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

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price dropped 0.9% during trading on Wednesday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $135.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Micron Technology traded as low as $87.68 and last traded at $87.96. Approximately 3,256,663 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 21,257,572 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.73.

MU has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $160.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,243,633 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,150,743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,315,988 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,303,506 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,157,800,000 after buying an additional 2,397,885 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 473.8% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,649,180 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $348,447,000 after buying an additional 2,187,460 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Micron Technology by 301,500.0% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,809,600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $213,334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Micron Technology by 28.9% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,566,572 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $892,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Stock Up 2.2 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.59. The company has a market cap of $98.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -62.85 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 2.16.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.14. Micron Technology had a negative net margin of 7.20% and a negative return on equity of 4.01%. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.57) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 81.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 8th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently -32.39%.

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.