Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) has seen an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late.
In today’s marketplace, there are a multitude of gauges shareholders can use to watch stocks. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can outpace the broader indices by a significant amount (see just how much).
Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are many reasons for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the latest action surrounding Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU).
How have hedgies been trading Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 37 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 12% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.
Of the funds we track, William B. Gray’s Orbis Investment Management had the biggest position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), worth close to $1.2212 billion, accounting for 10.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Steven Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors, with a $188.4 million position; the fund has 0.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, Robert Karr’s Joho Capital and Kerr Neilson’s Platinum Asset Management.
As one would reasonably expect, key money managers have been driving this bullishness. Joho Capital, managed by Robert Karr, assembled the biggest position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU). Joho Capital had 85.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors also made a $65.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP, Michael Messner’s Seminole Capital (Investment Mgmt), and Curtis Macnguyen’s Ivory Capital (Investment Mgmt).
What have insiders been doing with Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 12 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU). These stocks are Netlist, Inc. (NASDAQ:NLST), SemiLEDs Corporation (NASDAQ:LEDS), Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISSI), Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS), and Spansion Inc. (NYSE:CODE). This group of stocks are in the semiconductor- memory chips industry and their market caps are similar to MU’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Netlist, Inc. (NASDAQ:NLST) | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| SemiLEDs Corporation (NASDAQ:LEDS) | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISSI) | 8 | 0 | 3 |
| Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Spansion Inc. (NYSE:CODE) | 23 | 0 | 4 |
With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned strategies, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is no exception.
