Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 0.8% on Insider Selling

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares traded down 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $108.07 and last traded at $110.90. 5,466,604 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 20,393,424 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.78.

Specifically, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $5,850,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 728,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,712,410. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Micron Technology news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $5,850,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 728,557 shares in the company, valued at $94,712,410. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.30, for a total transaction of $583,377.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 148,817 shares in the company, valued at $17,753,868.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 268,890 shares of company stock valued at $29,738,667 over the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Micron Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $78.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Fox Advisors upgraded shares of Micron Technology from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.20.

Micron Technology Trading Up 2.9 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $105.94 and a 200 day moving average of $88.17. The company has a current ratio of 3.74, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.69. The firm had revenue of $5.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. Micron Technology had a negative return on equity of 8.98% and a negative net margin of 20.57%. Micron Technology’s revenue for the quarter was up 57.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($2.03) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.24 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently -13.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 411.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,657 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 3,746 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 6,370 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 456,840 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 330,961 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $22,515,000 after acquiring an additional 17,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Slow Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 44,970 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,059,000 after acquiring an additional 2,265 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.