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

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $150.00 to $120.00. The stock had previously closed at $103.00, but opened at $98.20. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Micron Technology shares last traded at $95.96, with a volume of 17,365,194 shares.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology presently has a consensus 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 stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Micron Technology by 114.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Micron Technology by 1,096.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 602.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Trading Down 8.0 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $96.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.21. The company has a market cap of $105.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30 and a beta of 1.23. 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 data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given 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 is Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.26%.

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.