Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $77.87, but opened at $72.50. Micron Technology shares last traded at $71.04, with a volume of 9,984,544 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MU. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on Micron Technology from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $129.36.

Remove Ads

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market cap of $79.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $90.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.75.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were 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 approximately $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at $2,542,378.94. This represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in Micron Technology by 583.3% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 410 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.