Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 2.4% - Should You Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 2.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $104.93 and last traded at $105.55. 3,509,241 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 21,911,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $108.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Micron Technology from $165.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $143.04.

Micron Technology Stock Down 3.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $115.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -73.30 and a beta of 1.18. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $99.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.51.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.65 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. Micron Technology's revenue was up 93.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.21) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. Micron Technology's payout ratio is currently -32.39%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 0.00 % 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. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,931,811 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $227,741,000 after purchasing an additional 20,741 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its position in Micron Technology by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 51,832 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $5,375,000 after acquiring an additional 9,735 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. purchased a new stake in Micron Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,056,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 434,596 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $45,072,000 after purchasing an additional 9,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kempner Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 16.8% in the third quarter. Kempner Capital Management Inc. now owns 94,192 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $9,769,000 after purchasing an additional 13,581 shares during the period. 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.