Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 1.3% – Here’s Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price dropped 1.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $84.09 and last traded at $84.16. Approximately 18,630,350 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 15% from the average daily volume of 21,944,355 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MU. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $97.30 billion, a PE ratio of 128.43 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $99.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Micron Technology in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Micron Technology in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 602.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.