Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 2.2% – Should You Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) fell 2.2% on Friday . The company traded as low as $96.90 and last traded at $96.96. 4,589,895 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 21,615,963 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MU shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Micron Technology from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Micron Technology from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $165.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.04.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $106.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.68 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $101.33 and its 200 day moving average is $112.72.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.65 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 93.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.21) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 7th were given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently 67.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,830 shares in the company, valued at $15,348,790. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MU. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 26.4% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 195,115 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $20,236,000 after buying an additional 40,802 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,931,811 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $227,741,000 after acquiring an additional 20,741 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Micron Technology by 23.1% in the third quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 51,832 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,375,000 after acquiring an additional 9,735 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position in Micron Technology by 9.1% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 163,272 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $16,933,000 after purchasing an additional 13,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the third quarter worth $1,270,000. 80.84% of the stock is 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.