Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 0.8% – Time to Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares were down 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $103.25 and last traded at $103.97. Approximately 6,526,423 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 24,212,027 shares. The stock had previously closed at $104.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MU shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho cut their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays cut their price target on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.24.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $98.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.72. The firm has a market cap of $114.56 billion, a PE ratio of 29.68 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.95) EPS. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,568 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in Micron Technology by 0.6% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 37,631,860 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,902,800,000 after acquiring an additional 206,499 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology by 3.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,723,545 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,451,987,000 after acquiring an additional 892,607 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology by 21.7% during 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 worth $1,174,643,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022,180 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,477,985 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.