Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 0.3% on Analyst Downgrade

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price dropped 0.3% during trading on Thursday after Susquehanna lowered their price target on the stock from $185.00 to $175.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. Micron Technology traded as low as $107.02 and last traded at $108.05. 6,262,970 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 21,237,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at $108.33.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Micron Technology from $138.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.52.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 34,284 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total value of $5,220,767.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 719,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,496,781.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 34,284 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total transaction of $5,220,767.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 719,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,496,781.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.86, for a total transaction of $664,355.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,335,731.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,174 shares of company stock worth $8,635,073. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 1.1% in 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 last quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the second quarter valued at $4,056,000. Norden Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 1,916.7% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 50,134 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,910,000 after acquiring an additional 47,648 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 531,637 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $45,383,000 after acquiring an additional 28,649 shares during the period. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its position in Micron Technology by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 99,839 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $11,770,000 after purchasing an additional 5,958 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.09 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.41.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.14. Micron Technology had a negative net margin of 7.20% and a negative return on equity of 4.01%. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.57) EPS. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 81.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 8th were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently -32.39%.

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.