Super Micro Computer Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:SMCI)

Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 347,011 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 37% compared to the average daily volume of 252,729 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SMCI. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Super Micro Computer during the first quarter valued at about $1,325,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Super Micro Computer by 25.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,194,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,256,739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,542 shares during the period. Wolf Hill Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Super Micro Computer in the fourth quarter worth about $77,996,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Super Micro Computer by 511.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 131,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,035,000 after acquiring an additional 110,308 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new stake in Super Micro Computer in the fourth quarter worth about $18,641,000. 84.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Super Micro Computer Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ SMCI opened at $47.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $50.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.34. Super Micro Computer has a 1 year low of $22.66 and a 1 year high of $122.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.77 and a quick ratio of 1.93.

Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.14). Super Micro Computer had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 30.57%. The business had revenue of $5.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 142.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Super Micro Computer will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Nomura Securities lowered shares of Super Micro Computer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Super Micro Computer from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Super Micro Computer from $150.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Super Micro Computer from $77.50 to $67.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Super Micro Computer from $438.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.45.

About Super Micro Computer

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.