5 Stocks Insiders and Hedge Funds Are Crazy About

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Chipmakers were one of 2017’s biggest winners, and Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) was at the head of that pack, gaining 85% during the year despite a December swoon. After earning just $0.06 per share in its fiscal 2016 year, Micron hiked that figure to $4.96 in its fiscal 2017 thanks to strong demand for its DRAM and NAND chips. Micron still trades at a paltry P/E of just 6.48-times despite the stock’s 300% gains in the last 19 months.

In August, SVP & Chief Financial Officer Ernest Maddock acquired 3,400 shares of the company at an average price tag of $27.89, bought just before shares began surging; they would hit nearly $50 by late-November. Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) was owned by 71 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey as of September 30, up from 62 funds in the middle of 2017. Those funds owned 14% of Micron’s stock at the end of the third-quarter, valued at $6.14 billion.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) has investors cautiously excited about the potential of its cancer drug Opdivo to treat or even cure HIV, after it delivered shocking and unexpected results for a Paris cancer and HIV sufferer, draining reservoirs of the patient’s HIV-infected cells. However, given that it’s just a lone successful case as of now and at least one other HIV patient taking Opdivo did not enjoy the same benefits, there is far more testing needed to determine the true extent of Opdivo’s HIV-fighting capabilities, if indeed the drug has any.

Director Theodore Samuels II has made two purchases of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) stock during the past five months, consisting of 6,000 shares at a price of $55.94 on August 2, and 4,000 shares at an average cost of $62.30 on December 15, giving him direct ownership of 22,000 shares. 70 hedge funds in our system were owners of Bristol-Myers shares on September 30, a 17% increase quarter-over-quarter.

Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE)

Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) was another hugely successful stock in 2017, gaining nearly 70%, and numerous analysts expect more big things to come in 2018 thanks to strength in its core brands. BMO Capital’s Keith Bachman believes that Adobe’s fiscal year 2018 operating margin guidance was conservative given the company’s success in its fiscal year 2017. BMO raised its price target on Adobe to $205 from $187 on December 14.

On December 18, Adobe Director Amy Banse purchased 1,125 shares at an average price of $177.35 each, pushing her ownership in the company to 31,453 shares. Adobe was owned by 65 hedge funds that we track as of September 30, up from 56 at the end of June. Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, increased its already-sizable position in Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) by another 37% in the third-quarter, to 5.24 million shares.

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