Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 17.5% After Analyst Downgrade

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 17.5% on Thursday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $114.00 to $98.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Micron Technology traded as low as $85.00 and last traded at $85.75. 42,447,487 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 96% from the average session volume of 21,693,350 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.90.

MU has been the topic of several other research reports. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC dropped 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 report on Thursday. UBS Group cut their target price on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,830 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,348,790. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1,096.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 128.6% in the second quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 256 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 261.1% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 325 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

Micron Technology Stock Down 16.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $97.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.08 and a beta of 1.16. 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 fifty day moving average is $103.85 and its 200 day moving average is $109.09.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.95) earnings per share. Micron Technology's revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

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.