Apollo Investment Corp. (AINV): Insiders Are Buying, Should You?

Is Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV) worth your attention right now? Investors who are in the know are becoming less confident. The number of long hedge fund positions fell by 2 lately.

At the moment, there are tons of indicators shareholders can use to analyze publicly traded companies. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Just as important, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are many reasons for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a look at the latest action surrounding Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV).

How have hedgies been trading Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -13% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the most valuable position in Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV). Citadel Investment Group has a $10.6 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $9.7 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include James Melcher’s Balestra, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

Seeing as Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV) has experienced declining sentiment from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there were a few fund managers who were dropping their entire stakes in Q1. Intriguingly, Robert Raiff’s Raiff Partners dumped the largest stake of the 450+ funds we monitor, valued at close to $6 million in stock., and David Costen Haley of HBK Investments was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $0.6 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds in Q1.

What have insiders been doing with Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV). These stocks are Tile Shop Hldgs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTS), Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE:APO), Solar Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLRC), Main Street Capital Corporation (NYSE:MAIN), and A.F.P Provida SA (ADR) (NYSE:PVD). All of these stocks are in the diversified investments industry and their market caps are similar to AINV’s market cap.