A Trio Of Google Inc (GOOG) Indicators To Watch

Nowadays, there are a multitude of facts and figures for Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) traders to watch, but it’s key to take note of a stock’s shorts. Two pieces of data typically used are: (a) the fraction of a stock’s float that bears are currently short selling, in addition to (b) the change in short interest.

More short selling usually indicates what you’d think: the Street has turned less optimistic about that particular stock. Overselling, however, may have a positive effect on stock price, as short sellers can be forced to cover their positions.

Here at Insider Monkey, it is not a secret that we monitor hedgies’ interest, but it is also crucial to group this information with overall short interest information. A few, mega- players may share that they’re short on a stock, but it isn’t an SEC requirement. Nonetheless, many individual players might want to avoid heavily shorted equities with elevated hedgie interest, while others might desire short-squeeze opportunities. For those searching for a time-tested piggybacking strategy, discover the details of our premium strategy.

Let us take a glance at the recent info swirling around Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG).

Tracking the latest FINRA data, which is released twice each month, we can realize that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has a short interest of 1.40% of float. This indicates a small decrease from the prior filing. With a total float of 270.89M shares, this is a short ratio of 1.70.

It’s also important to monitor hedge fund holdings from their 13F forms. When analyzing the funds we track, Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital had the biggest position in Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), worth close to $1.1107 billion, comprising 5.8% of its total 13F portfolio. On Lone Pine Capital’s heels is Lansdowne Partners, managed by Paul Ruddock and Steve Heinz, which held a $635.4 million position; the fund has 8.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Boykin Curry’s Eagle Capital Management, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Also, insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 11 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at activity in other stocks similar to Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG). These stocks are Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX), LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Baidu.com, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU), and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). This group of stocks are the members of the internet information providers industry and their market caps match GOOG’s market cap.

This trio of metrics–short sale information, hedge fund data and insider sentiment–are something all investors should account for. Although it’s difficult to discover a discernable strategy from short sale information, the latter two give lots of market beating opportunities if you know where to look.