Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 9,871 Shares of Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 615,468 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,871 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.10% of Super Micro Computer worth $21,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Super Micro Computer from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Super Micro Computer to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Super Micro Computer in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Super Micro Computer from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price target for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, KGI Securities assumed coverage on shares of Super Micro Computer in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $41.47.

Super Micro Computer Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Super Micro Computer stock traded down $1.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $49.24. 24,813,483 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 68,591,940. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.43. Super Micro Computer, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.25 and a 1-year high of $96.33. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $42.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 6.66 and a quick ratio of 3.95.

Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.40 billion. Super Micro Computer had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 5.61%. Super Micro Computer's quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Super Micro Computer, Inc. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Super Micro Computer

In other news, Director Liang Chiu-Chu Sara Liu sold 300,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 66,903,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,010,663,800. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Charles Liang sold 300,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $13,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 66,903,640 shares in the company, valued at $3,010,663,800. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 667,000 shares of company stock valued at $29,949,340. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.