Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 2.4% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) dropped 2.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $104.93 and last traded at $105.55. Approximately 3,509,241 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 21,911,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $108.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MU. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. BNP Paribas downgraded Micron Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.04.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $110.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 146.84 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $99.01 and a 200-day moving average of $113.42.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The business had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.21) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 93.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $552,570.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,348,790. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Micron Technology by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,666,590 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $11,396,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,681,815 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 6.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,748,381 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,681,807,000 after buying an additional 1,400,154 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 15.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,303,506 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,157,800,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,885 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Micron Technology by 22.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,243,633 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,150,743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,315,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 30.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,109,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477,985 shares during the period. 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.