Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 2.1% - Time to Sell?

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) fell 2.1% on Friday . The company traded as low as $93.28 and last traded at $94.73. 4,230,708 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 22,987,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MU. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 target price on Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, China Renaissance lowered shares of Micron Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $84.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.48.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $105.52 billion, a PE ratio of 27.21 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.87.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Micron Technology's payout ratio is 11.03%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $192,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,996,320. The trade was a 8.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,847,482.42. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,808 shares of company stock worth $1,858,424. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Micron Technology in the first quarter valued at approximately $57,628,000. SWS Partners lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 2.5% in the first quarter. SWS Partners now owns 21,529 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,871,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the period. Westbourne Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 555.9% in the first quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. now owns 17,590 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 14,908 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 312.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 138,878 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $12,067,000 after acquiring an additional 105,178 shares during the period. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 278.8% in the first quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 20,901 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 15,384 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Micron Technology

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.