Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $155.00 to $153.00. The stock had previously closed at $142.36, but opened at $135.79. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Micron Technology shares last traded at $136.31, with a volume of 11,122,377 shares trading hands.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus raised Micron Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Fox Advisors raised Micron Technology from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Micron Technology from $138.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.52.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, SVP Michael W. Bokan sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.55, for a total value of $1,733,250.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 153,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,723,867.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Micron Technology news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.09, for a total transaction of $854,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 743,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,780,874.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael W. Bokan sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.55, for a total transaction of $1,733,250.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 153,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,723,867.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 304,840 shares of company stock valued at $37,961,924. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth $769,372,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,383,628 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,182,608,000 after purchasing an additional 5,257,201 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,243,633 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,150,743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,315,988 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,303,400 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,177,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,852,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 125.0% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,541,662 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $387,585,000 after purchasing an additional 2,523,267 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Micron Technology Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $128.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.08.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Micron Technology had a negative return on equity of 4.01% and a negative net margin of 7.20%. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.57) EPS. Micron Technology’s revenue for the quarter was up 81.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently -32.39%.

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.