Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 3.1% - Here's What Happened

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 3.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $66.56 and last traded at $66.69. 4,221,194 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 24,727,230 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MU has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded shares of Micron Technology to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $128.56.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $85.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a market capitalization of $89.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MU. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $1,470,875,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 63.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $3,458,673,000 after buying an additional 15,993,036 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 34.6% in the fourth 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 increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 139.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,370,280,000 after acquiring an additional 9,489,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted 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 acquiring an additional 4,375,232 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.