Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Sets New 1-Year Low - Should You Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $79.02 and last traded at $78.21, with a volume of 10239532 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $88.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MU shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 target price on Micron Technology in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.76.

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Micron Technology Trading Down 12.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $93.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.10.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The company had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at $2,542,378.94. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth about $1,470,875,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Micron Technology by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $3,458,673,000 after buying an additional 15,993,036 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,672,462 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $4,012,114,000 after buying an additional 12,249,341 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 139.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,370,280,000 after acquiring an additional 9,489,579 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,437,080 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,383,442,000 after acquiring an additional 4,375,232 shares in the last quarter. 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.