Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 10.2% - Time to Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 10.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $63.86 and last traded at $66.79. Approximately 17,840,419 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 22,721,136 shares. The stock had previously closed at $74.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MU. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 price target on Micron Technology in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $129.76.

Remove Ads

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $91.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27 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.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 yield of 0.65%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.03%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 114.9% during the fourth 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 Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 583.3% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 410 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.