Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 0.9% on Analyst Downgrade

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares traded down 0.9% on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $190.00 to $175.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Micron Technology traded as low as $87.68 and last traded at $87.96. 3,256,663 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 21,257,572 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.73.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $165.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Micron Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.86, for a total value of $664,355.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 142,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,335,731.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,931,811 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $227,741,000 after acquiring an additional 20,741 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,056,000. Norden Group LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1,916.7% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 50,134 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,910,000 after acquiring an additional 47,648 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 531,637 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $45,383,000 after acquiring an additional 28,649 shares during the period. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 99,839 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $11,770,000 after acquiring an additional 5,958 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $102.46 and a 200-day moving average of $114.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -61.94 and a beta of 1.17.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.14. Micron Technology had a negative return on equity of 4.01% and a negative net margin of 7.20%. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.57) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 81.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th were paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently -32.39%.

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.