Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 0.4% on Insider Selling

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price fell 0.4% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $89.61 and last traded at $91.76. Approximately 6,241,879 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 22,254,826 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.13.

Specifically, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America cut Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.76.

Micron Technology Trading Down 3.0 %

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 cap of $98.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day moving average is $96.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.37.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. Micron Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.03%.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MU. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 1,096.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 114.9% during 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. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 80.84% of the stock is 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.