Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 0.8% - Time to Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 0.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $88.02 and last traded at $90.55. 6,859,142 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 25,553,680 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on MU shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $96.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.29 billion, a PE ratio of 26.97 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Micron Technology's quarterly revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,109,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477,985 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,326,224 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,174,643,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022,180 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Micron Technology by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $5,001,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 254.4% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $192,840,000 after buying an additional 1,334,690 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Micron Technology by 1,233.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,619 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $145,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,352 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.