Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Rating Lowered by KGI Securities

Key Points

• KGI Securities downgraded Micron Technology from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating in a recent report, reflecting a cautious outlook on the stock.
• Several analysts, including Raymond James and Morgan Stanley, have raised their price targets for Micron Technology, indicating a generally positive sentiment despite the downgrade.
• Micron announced earnings with a surge in EPS to $1.91, surpassing expectations, and reported revenue of $9.30 billion, which also exceeded forecasts.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at KGI Securities from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $98.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $172.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $146.44.

Micron Technology Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Micron Technology stock opened at $111.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05 and a beta of 1.35. Micron Technology has a 52-week low of $61.54 and a 52-week high of $129.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.75. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $112.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.56.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.34. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.41%. The firm had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, CFO Mark J. Murphy sold 34,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.32, for a total transaction of $3,716,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 264,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,864,415.52. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Manish H. Bhatia sold 80,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.16, for a total value of $9,852,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 275,067 shares in the company, valued at $33,877,251.72. This trade represents a 22.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 288,446 shares of company stock worth $34,871,597 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MU. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 10,830 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,335,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 15.5% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 121,122 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $14,928,000 after acquiring an additional 16,211 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in Micron Technology by 0.8% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 96,556 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $11,901,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 42,655 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $5,257,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 7,890 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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