Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 3.9% – Should You Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price fell 3.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $84.10 and last traded at $84.87. 6,944,397 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 22,814,306 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MU. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America lowered shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.76.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $96.00 and a 200-day moving average of $98.51. The company has a market cap of $96.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.77 and a beta of 1.23.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 11.03%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,542,378.94. This represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,470,875,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 63.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,458,673,000 after buying an additional 15,993,036 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,672,462 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,012,114,000 after buying an additional 12,249,341 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 139.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,370,280,000 after purchasing an additional 9,489,579 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,437,080 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,383,442,000 after purchasing an additional 4,375,232 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.