Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 1.9% - What's Next?

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) traded down 1.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $73.50 and last traded at $75.45. 8,676,122 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 23,211,405 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MU. Barclays lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $127.04.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $84.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.73 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $84.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.50.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MU. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 306.1% during the 1st quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 398 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

Micron Technology Company Profile

Micron Technology, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells memory and storage products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Compute and Networking Business Unit, Mobile Business Unit, Embedded Business Unit, and Storage Business Unit. It provides memory and storage technologies comprising dynamic random access memory semiconductor devices with low latency that provide high-speed data retrieval; non-volatile and re-writeable semiconductor storage devices; and non-volatile re-writable semiconductor memory devices that provide fast read speeds under the Micron and Crucial brands, as well as through private labels.

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