Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares were down 1.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $102.34 and last traded at $103.19. Approximately 4,470,614 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 22,727,066 shares. The stock had previously closed at $104.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MU. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America cut shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, China Renaissance started coverage on Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Trading Down 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.91 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $96.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.67.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. Micron Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 114.9% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised 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 buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Micron Technology by 261.1% during 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 in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.