Micron, Western Digital, More: Hedge Funds’ Favorite Tech Stocks in the Mid-Cap Space

#3 Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)

– Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of June 30): 47
– Total Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of June 30): $2.05 billion
– Hedge Funds’ Holdings as Percent of Float (as of June 30): 15.30%

Like the performance of many other semiconductor companies, Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) shares have done well this year, rising by 18% year-to-date on the back of several solid earnings reports. If its merger with KLA-Tencor Corp (NASDAQ:KLAC) goes through, Lam’s management could conceivably unlock enough synergies to power solid performance for several more quarters. Investors may have to wait a little longer than expected for the synergies to materialize, however. Lam Research recently extended its merger timeline with KLA-Tencor to later than October 20 due to a slower-than-anticipated regulatory approval process. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies raised its position in Lam Research by 752% to 926,456 shares at the end of the second quarter.

#2 Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC)

– Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of June 30): 48
– Total Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of June 30): $1.02 billion
– Hedge Funds’ Holdings as Percent of Float (as of June 30): 9.20%

Although Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC)’s management has said that 2016 would be a “transformative year” due to the need to integrate SanDisk’s operations into the company’s own, 48 funds in our database had a bullish position in Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC) at the end of the second quarter, up by six funds from the end of the previous quarter. Although hard disk drives are in secular decline, demand for hard drives from the cloud and the synergies derived from the SanDisk acquisition could help Western Digital beat expectations for the quarters to come.

#1 Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

– Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders (as of June 30): 67
– Total Value of Hedge Funds’ Holdings (as of June 30): $1.16 billion
– Hedge Funds’ Holdings as Percent of Float (as of June 30): 8.10%

With 67 funds (up by 16 quarter-over-quarter) reporting owning shares of the semiconductor company as of the end of June, Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is the most popular mid-cap tech stock among the smart money set that matters to us. Although Micron’s third quarter of fiscal year 2016 was a bit disappointing, with a loss of $0.08 per share and revenue of $2.9 billion (down by 24.7% year-over-year), investors have bid up Micron shares to the tune of 14% due to the company’s cost-cutting initiatives, which should save more than $300 million in its fiscal year 2017.

Disclosure: None