Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares were down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $88.23 and last traded at $89.28. Approximately 13,021,257 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 21,997,564 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.72.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $99.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.30 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $102.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.79.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 13.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,348,790. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Micron Technology by 30.7% in the third quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,958 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 4,921 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,255,931 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $130,253,000 after buying an additional 52,912 shares during the last quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd boosted its position in Micron Technology by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 22,945 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,380,000 after buying an additional 4,590 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,283,124 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $789,054,000 after acquiring an additional 321,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its position in Micron Technology by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 13,102 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. 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.