Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 3.5% – Here’s Why

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) fell 3.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $84.58 and last traded at $85.45. 8,749,048 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 21,899,865 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Micron Technology from $114.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Trading Down 2.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $96.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.10 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $101.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.64.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,001,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,568 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 0.6% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 37,631,860 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,902,800,000 after acquiring an additional 206,499 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,723,545 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,451,987,000 after acquiring an additional 892,607 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 21.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,326,224 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,174,643,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,109,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477,985 shares during the last quarter. 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.