Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 0.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) fell 0.5% during trading on Tuesday after KeyCorp lowered their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $145.00. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Micron Technology traded as low as $87.15 and last traded at $90.01. 8,836,546 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 21,221,861 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.42.

MU has been the topic of a number of other reports. Mizuho upped their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $138.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $157.92.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 142,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,335,731.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Sumit Sadana sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.01, for a total value of $1,476,120.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 218,048 shares in the company, valued at $26,822,084.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.86, for a total value of $664,355.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 142,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,335,731.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 114,413 shares of company stock valued at $15,288,739. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,666,590 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $11,396,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,681,815 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 6.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,748,381 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,681,807,000 after buying an additional 1,400,154 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,583,348 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,927,263,000 after acquiring an additional 503,923 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,303,506 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,157,800,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake 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 valued at $2,150,743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,315,988 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -62.49 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $127.75 and a 200-day moving average of $112.98.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.14. Micron Technology had a negative net margin of 7.20% and a negative return on equity of 4.01%. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.57) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 81.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th were issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 8th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -32.39%.

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.