Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 3.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) were down 3.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $96.64 and last traded at $98.20. Approximately 17,013,781 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 21,485,566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MU. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Micron Technology from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Micron Technology from $165.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.04.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.88 billion, a PE ratio of 144.41 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $103.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.80.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.21. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.21) EPS. Micron Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 93.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 67.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $552,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,348,790. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MU. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1,096.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 128.6% in the second quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 256 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.