Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after BNP Paribas downgraded the stock from an outperform rating to an underperform rating. The stock had previously closed at $90.65, but opened at $87.10. BNP Paribas now has a $67.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $140.00. Micron Technology shares last traded at $85.33, with a volume of 7,252,322 shares changing hands.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on MU. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Micron Technology from $138.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $152.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 34,284 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total value of $5,220,767.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 719,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,496,781.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 34,284 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total value of $5,220,767.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 719,049 shares in the company, valued at $109,496,781.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.86, for a total value of $664,355.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 142,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,335,731.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $769,372,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Micron Technology by 22.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,315,988 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in Micron Technology by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,303,506 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,157,800,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,885 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 473.8% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,649,180 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $348,447,000 after purchasing an additional 2,187,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Micron Technology by 301,500.0% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,809,600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $213,334,000 after buying an additional 1,809,000 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Micron Technology Stock Up 4.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $104.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -64.24 and a beta of 1.17.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.14. Micron Technology had a negative return on equity of 4.01% and a negative net margin of 7.20%. 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 company earned ($1.57) EPS. Micron Technology’s revenue for the quarter was up 81.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently -32.39%.

Micron Technology Company Profile

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.