Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 0.4% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) fell 0.4% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $96.87 and last traded at $99.06. 7,561,489 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 28,728,939 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MU shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.24.

Micron Technology Trading Down 0.5 %

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 stock has a market capitalization of $110.21 billion, a PE ratio of 145.47 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $98.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.97.

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

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MU. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 30.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,109,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477,985 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 21.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,326,224 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,174,643,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022,180 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 254.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $192,840,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334,690 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 1,233.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,619 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $145,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.