Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 0.1% - Here's What Happened

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $95.65 and last traded at $96.87. Approximately 8,897,035 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 23,333,589 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MU shares. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on 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. Barclays cut their price target on Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $126.48.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $108.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.02 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $82.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

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

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business'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 value of $223,403.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,808 shares of company stock worth $1,858,424. Corporate 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 business. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Micron Technology in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 306.1% in the 1st quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 398 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is currently 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.