Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 0.8% After Insider Selling

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) was down 0.8% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $108.07 and last traded at $110.90. Approximately 5,466,604 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 20,393,424 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.78.

Specifically, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 7,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $593,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 788,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,901,175.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.30, for a total value of $583,377.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 148,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,753,868.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $593,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 788,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,901,175.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 268,890 shares of company stock worth $29,738,667. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $103.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $120.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Micron Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.20.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $105.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.17. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 3.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.69. Micron Technology had a negative net margin of 20.57% and a negative return on equity of 8.98%. The business had revenue of $5.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($2.03) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 57.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.24 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MU. Nadler Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Micron Technology during the first quarter worth $286,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new position in Micron Technology in the first quarter valued at about $589,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE purchased a new position in Micron Technology during the first quarter worth about $2,116,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $180,000. Finally, Guild Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 1st quarter worth approximately $220,000. 80.84% of the stock is 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.