Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $150.00 to $120.00. The stock had previously closed at $103.00, but opened at $98.20. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Micron Technology shares last traded at $95.96, with a volume of 17,365,194 shares changing hands.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on MU. KGI Securities raised shares of Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.63.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology 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 sale, the director now owns 27,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,542,378.94. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MU. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 602.2% during 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. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in Micron Technology by 1,096.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Micron Technology by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $105.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 11.03%.

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.