Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 3.3% Following Insider Selling

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price dropped 3.3% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $88.60 and last traded at $88.17. Approximately 4,406,255 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 22,197,486 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.16.

Specifically, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MU. Citigroup decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.76.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $96.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49 and a beta of 1.23.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MU. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 349.4% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 11,092 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 8,624 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 885.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 6.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 50,470 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,234,000 after purchasing an additional 3,069 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Micron Technology by 38.1% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 20,811 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,158,000 after buying an additional 5,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Micron Technology by 68.3% in the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,817 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.