Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Price Target Lowered to $98.00 at Morgan Stanley

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $112.00 to $98.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.48.

Micron Technology Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MU opened at $82.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85 and a beta of 1.21. Micron Technology has a 12-month low of $61.54 and a 12-month high of $157.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $82.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $192,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,996,320. This trade represents a 8.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,482.42. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 19,808 shares of company stock valued at $1,858,424. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,470,875,000. Capital World Investors grew 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 purchasing an additional 15,993,036 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,672,462 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,012,114,000 after purchasing an additional 12,249,341 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 139.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,370,280,000 after buying an additional 9,489,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 36.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,437,080 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,383,442,000 after buying an additional 4,375,232 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.