BNP Paribas Downgrades Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) to Underperform

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) was downgraded by analysts at BNP Paribas from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $67.00 price target on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, down from their prior price target of $140.00. BNP Paribas’ price target would suggest a potential downside of 26.55% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on MU. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $155.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $152.31.

Micron Technology Stock Up 4.6 %

Shares of Micron Technology stock opened at $91.22 on Thursday. Micron Technology has a 1-year low of $63.83 and a 1-year high of $157.54. The company has a market capitalization of $101.15 billion, a PE ratio of -64.24 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The business has a 50-day moving average of $104.18 and a 200-day moving average of $114.69.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.67 billion. Micron Technology had a negative net margin of 7.20% and a negative return on equity of 4.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 81.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.57) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Micron Technology will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.86, for a total value of $664,355.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,335,731.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 34,284 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total value of $5,220,767.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 719,049 shares in the company, valued at $109,496,781.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.86, for a total value of $664,355.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,335,731.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MU. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the fourth quarter valued at $769,372,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,243,633 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,150,743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,315,988 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,303,506 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,157,800,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,885 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Micron Technology by 473.8% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,649,180 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $348,447,000 after acquiring an additional 2,187,460 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 301,500.0% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,809,600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $213,334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809,000 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.