Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $114.00 to $98.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock.

MU has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MU opened at $90.12 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $103.14 and its 200-day moving average is $108.54. The company has a market cap of $100.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.53 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.64. Micron Technology has a 52-week low of $79.15 and a 52-week high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.95) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 13.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was 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 $15,348,790. This represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MU. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1.3% during the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,625 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. raised 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 lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 57.2% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 272 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 2.5% in the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 5.6% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,955 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.