Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 7.8% – Time to Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares dropped 7.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $70.02 and last traded at $71.77. Approximately 13,582,099 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 23,086,322 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MU shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Bank of America cut shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Micron Technology from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.36.

Micron Technology Stock Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $77.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $90.66 and its 200 day moving average is $97.09. 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 results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The company had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 11.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MU. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 114.9% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Roxbury Financial LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 306.1% during the first quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 398 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other 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.