Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Reaches New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $79.02 and last traded at $78.21, with a volume of 10239532 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $88.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, March 17th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.76.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $85.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $94.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The company had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 11.03%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Xcel Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,157 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 2,973 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,062 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 7,474 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $629,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. 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.