Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 3.6% – Here’s What Happened

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price dropped 3.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $103.35 and last traded at $105.32. Approximately 8,754,508 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 24,390,479 shares. The stock had previously closed at $109.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $114.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.24.

Micron Technology Stock Down 1.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $114.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.74 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $98.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.53.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.95) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 602.2% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1,096.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.