Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 11,453,681 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the previous session’s volume of 22,205,254 shares.The stock last traded at $106.38 and had previously closed at $99.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MU shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Micron Technology from $114.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Micron Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.24.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $98.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.76 billion, a PE ratio of 146.19 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Micron Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Micron Technology in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Micron Technology during the second quarter worth $39,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology during the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in Micron Technology by 602.2% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.