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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Micron Technology to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Micron Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $112.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 price objective on Micron Technology in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $126.48.

Micron Technology Stock Up 4.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $114.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.47 and a beta of 1.21. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $82.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.88.

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

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.03%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $192,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,996,320. This represents a 8.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth $1,470,875,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in Micron Technology by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $3,458,673,000 after purchasing an additional 15,993,036 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,672,462 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $4,012,114,000 after buying an additional 12,249,341 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 139.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,370,280,000 after buying an additional 9,489,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,437,080 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,383,442,000 after buying an additional 4,375,232 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.