Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 0.4% on Analyst Downgrade

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price fell 0.4% during trading on Friday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $145.00 to $110.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Micron Technology traded as low as $83.54 and last traded at $86.72. 15,771,937 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the average session volume of 21,870,152 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.09.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MU. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. China Renaissance began coverage on Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Micron Technology from $114.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.24.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,348,790. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MU. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 57.2% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 272 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 100.1% during the 2nd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 2,161 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Rational Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 138.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 16,380.0% during the 2nd quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 106,131 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $13,959,000 after buying an additional 105,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 303,242 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $39,885,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Stock Up 3.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $100.40 billion, a PE ratio of 132.53 and a beta of 1.16. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $103.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.95) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

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.