Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 7.7% – Time to Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MUGet Free Report)’s stock price dropped 7.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $971.68 and last traded at $996.00. Approximately 53,430,820 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 23% from the average daily volume of 43,594,883 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,079.57.

Key Headlines Impacting Micron Technology

Here are the key news stories impacting Micron Technology this week:

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MU shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $425.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Micron Technology from $450.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. DA Davidson started coverage on Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,000.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $330.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Micron Technology from $520.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $641.97.

Read Our Latest Analysis on MU

Micron Technology Trading Down 13.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $974.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.79 and a beta of 2.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $617.28 and a 200-day moving average of $437.99.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MUGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $12.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.19 by $3.01. The company had revenue of $23.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.97 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 41.16% and a net margin of 41.49%.The firm’s revenue was up 196 compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 58.79 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th were given a $0.15 dividend. This is a boost from Micron Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.1%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently 2.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $347.39, for a total transaction of $13,895,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 125,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,679,776.43. This trade represents a 24.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Sumit Sadana sold 24,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $421.35, for a total value of $10,112,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 224,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,391,248.35. The trade was a 9.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 146,000 shares of company stock valued at $85,486,715 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MU. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,433,456,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 411.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,627,022 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $606,873,000 after buying an additional 2,918,535 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 1,340.6% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,820,986 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $805,148,000 after buying an additional 2,625,169 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 65.0% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,989,400 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,424,025,000 after buying an additional 1,965,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 106,608,094 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $30,427,016,000 after buying an additional 1,954,644 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

About Micron Technology

(Get Free Report)

Micron Technology, Inc is a global semiconductor company that designs and manufactures memory and storage solutions. Its product portfolio includes dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), NAND flash memory, solid-state drives (SSDs), memory modules and embedded memory solutions for a wide range of computing and electronic devices. Micron supplies components used in data centers, enterprise and cloud infrastructure, client computing, mobile devices, automotive systems and industrial applications, and also markets consumer-facing products under the Crucial brand.

Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Boise, Idaho, Micron has grown into an international manufacturer with research, development and production facilities across multiple regions.

Further Reading

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