Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 0.4% – Here’s What Happened

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares dropped 0.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $84.76 and last traded at $85.00. Approximately 4,970,418 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 21,888,414 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.24.

Micron Technology Price Performance

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 company has a market cap of $93.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.77 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.82.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This 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 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 bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Micron Technology by 0.6% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 37,631,860 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,902,800,000 after purchasing an additional 206,499 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 3.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,723,545 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,451,987,000 after purchasing an additional 892,607 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,326,224 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,174,643,000 after buying an additional 2,022,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Micron Technology by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,109,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477,985 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is 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.