Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 2.5% – Here’s Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) fell 2.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $98.30 and last traded at $99.41. 33,454,488 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 33,138,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MU has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. BNP Paribas lowered Micron Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $114.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.24.

Micron Technology Trading Down 2.5 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 146.19 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stonebrook Private Inc. boosted its position in Micron Technology by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 2.5% during the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 14.3% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 821 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,382 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Micron Technology by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,357 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.