Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 12.6% - Should You Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) traded down 12.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $77.39 and last traded at $77.47. 13,873,844 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 22,685,128 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $129.76.

Remove Ads

Micron Technology Trading Down 12.9 %

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

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % 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

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company's stock.

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.