Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 2.2% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) were down 2.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $93.79 and last traded at $95.54. Approximately 6,669,736 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 22,107,545 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MU shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.96.

Micron Technology Trading Down 6.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $102.30 billion, a PE ratio of 26.46 and a beta of 1.18. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $95.59 and a 200-day moving average of $98.92.

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. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The company’s revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale 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

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harmony Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 75.6% during the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 41,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,252,000 after buying an additional 29,000 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 195,115 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $20,236,000 after buying an additional 40,802 shares in the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC bought a new stake in Micron Technology in the fourth quarter valued at $569,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. 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.