Sanford C. Bernstein Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) had its price objective trimmed by Sanford C. Bernstein from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on MU. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Friday, December 13th. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.26.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

MU opened at $90.12 on Wednesday. Micron Technology has a twelve month low of $79.15 and a twelve month high of $157.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.40 billion, a PE ratio of 132.53 and a beta of 1.16. 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 50-day moving average price is $103.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.67.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $552,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,830 shares in the company, valued at $15,348,790. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate 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 the company. Harmony Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 75.6% during the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 41,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,252,000 after buying an additional 29,000 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 195,115 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $20,236,000 after acquiring an additional 40,802 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,001,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 23.1% during the third quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 51,832 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,375,000 after purchasing an additional 9,735 shares during 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.