The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Price Target to $128.00

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) had its price target lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $145.00 to $128.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on MU. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. 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 for the company. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of Micron Technology stock opened at $90.12 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $100.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.53 and a beta of 1.16. Micron Technology has a fifty-two week low of $79.15 and a fifty-two week high of $157.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $103.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Micron Technology will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. 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 0.51%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $552,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,348,790. This represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 21.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,022,180 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 254.4% in the 3rd 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 increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1,233.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,323,352 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.