Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 7.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) were down 7.7% on Friday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $150.00 to $120.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Micron Technology traded as low as $94.06 and last traded at $95.11. Approximately 25,298,804 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 11% from the average daily volume of 22,697,759 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.00.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on MU. KGI Securities raised shares of Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,857,205 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $8,403,982,000 after buying an additional 888,087 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,672,462 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,012,114,000 after acquiring an additional 12,249,341 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,458,673,000 after acquiring an additional 15,993,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Micron Technology by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,449,827 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,052,973,000 after purchasing an additional 726,282 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Micron Technology Stock Down 8.0 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30 and a beta of 1.23.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently 11.03%.

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.