Is Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) ready to raly soon? Hedge funds are becoming more confident. The number of bullish hedge fund positions went up by 3 recently.
To the average investor, there are dozens of metrics investors can use to monitor publicly traded companies. A pair of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a significant margin (see just how much).
Equally as important, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the marketplace. Obviously, there are a variety of incentives for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a look at the recent action regarding Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO).
How have hedgies been trading Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO)?
At year’s end, a total of 24 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 14% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.
Of the funds we track, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the largest position in Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO). Citadel Investment Group has a $35 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On Citadel Investment Group’s heels is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $22 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include SAC Subsidiary’s Sigma Capital Management, David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management and Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors.
Now, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Buckingham Capital Management, managed by David Keidan, initiated the biggest position in Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO). Buckingham Capital Management had 15 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also initiated a $7 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new TSCO investors: Robert Joseph Caruso’s Select Equity Group, Noam Gottesman’s GLG Partners, and SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors.
Insider trading activity in Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO)
Insider buying is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results demonstrated by our strategies, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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