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

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $114.00 to $98.00. The stock had previously closed at $103.90, but opened at $90.08. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Micron Technology shares last traded at $86.37, with a volume of 20,483,340 shares trading hands.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.56.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology 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 owns 135,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,348,790. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1.3% in the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,625 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. increased its stake in Micron Technology by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 57.2% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 272 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,955 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Trading Down 16.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $97.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.08 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50-day moving average is $103.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

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