Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 1.3% – Should You Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) was down 1.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $84.09 and last traded at $84.16. Approximately 18,630,350 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 15% from the average daily volume of 21,944,355 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Micron Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.24.

Micron Technology Stock Up 3.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.69. The stock has a market cap of $97.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.43 and a beta of 1.16.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The company’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in Micron Technology during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 1,096.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 261.1% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 325 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 602.2% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.