Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 12.6% – Here’s Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) traded down 12.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $77.39 and last traded at $77.47. 13,873,844 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 22,685,128 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 price target on Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.76.

Micron Technology Trading Down 16.1 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.42. The company has a market capitalization of $83.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.03%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,482.42. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. This represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its position in Micron Technology by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 9,070 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $788,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 65.8% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,413 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 1,751 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its position in Micron Technology by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 5,119 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the 1st quarter worth about $7,720,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Micron Technology by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 4,029 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.