Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 0.8% – What’s Next?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) dropped 0.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $88.02 and last traded at $90.55. Approximately 6,859,142 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 25,553,680 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.24.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MU shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective 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, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $104.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97 and a beta of 1.18. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.38.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.95) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.26%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Micron Technology by 30.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,109,769,000 after buying an additional 2,477,985 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Micron Technology by 21.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,326,224 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,174,643,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022,180 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after buying an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology by 254.4% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $192,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 1,233.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,619 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $145,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,352 shares during 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.