Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 10.2% – Here’s Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price traded down 10.2% on Friday . The company traded as low as $63.86 and last traded at $66.79. 17,840,419 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 22,721,136 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MU shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.76.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $93.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $72.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.65 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid 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 0.71%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MU. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in Micron Technology by 583.3% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 410 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by 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.