Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 1.6% - Should You Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) shares were down 1.6% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $105.18 and last traded at $105.09. Approximately 5,218,578 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 22,897,078 shares. The stock had previously closed at $106.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MU. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $148.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Micron Technology from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Trading Down 4.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $110.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $96.28 and a 200 day moving average of $98.76.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The company's revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology's payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MU. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,455,819 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $358,403,000 after buying an additional 806,639 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 22.4% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,481 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 2.7% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,999 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $3,734,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the third quarter worth about $147,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 13.4% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 85,125 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $8,828,000 after purchasing an additional 10,028 shares during 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.