Advisors Preferred LLC Makes New $671,000 Investment in Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI)

Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $671,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Super Micro Computer by 908.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,992,493 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,889,531,000 after buying an additional 55,845,073 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Super Micro Computer by 914.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,846,717 shares of the company's stock worth $390,572,000 after purchasing an additional 11,580,677 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC acquired a new stake in Super Micro Computer in the 4th quarter valued at about $292,869,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Super Micro Computer by 929.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,542,742 shares of the company's stock worth $229,903,000 after buying an additional 6,810,082 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Super Micro Computer by 1,573.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,897,876 shares of the company's stock worth $149,287,000 after acquiring an additional 4,605,260 shares during the last quarter. 84.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SMCI. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Super Micro Computer in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Super Micro Computer to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Super Micro Computer in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Super Micro Computer from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Super Micro Computer in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Super Micro Computer news, CEO Charles Liang sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $13,500,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 66,903,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,010,663,800. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO David E. Weigand sold 67,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.02, for a total value of $2,949,340.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 88,599 shares in the company, valued at $3,900,127.98. This trade represents a 43.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 667,000 shares of company stock worth $29,949,340 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 17.60% of the company's stock.

Super Micro Computer Trading Up 3.7%

NASDAQ:SMCI traded up $1.95 on Friday, reaching $54.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,065,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,038,150. Super Micro Computer, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.25 and a 12-month high of $73.00. The company has a quick ratio of 3.95, a current ratio of 6.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $32.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.91.

Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. Super Micro Computer had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Super Micro Computer's revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Super Micro Computer, Inc. will post 1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Super Micro Computer Profile

Super Micro Computer, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and manufactures high performance server and storage solutions based on modular and open architecture in the United States, Europe, Asia, and internationally. Its solutions range from complete server, storage systems, modular blade servers, blades, workstations, full racks, networking devices, server sub-systems, server management software, and security software.