Is Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APL) a cheap investment right now? Prominent investors are betting on the stock. The number of bullish hedge fund positions inched up by 3 lately.
In the financial world, there are tons of indicators shareholders can use to analyze Mr. Market. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a superb amount (see just how much).
Just as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are lots of motivations for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if you understand where to look (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a glance at the key action regarding Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APL).
What have hedge funds been doing with Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APL)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 60% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, Omega Advisors, managed by Leon Cooperman, holds the largest position in Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APL). Omega Advisors has a $158.3 million position in the stock, comprising 2.9% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, which held a $33.9 million position; 0.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies with similar optimism include Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Kroch’s GRT Capital Partners, Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital and John Bader’s Halcyon Asset Management.
As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, created the biggest position in Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APL). Balyasny Asset Management had 33.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Bader’s Halcyon Asset Management also initiated a $1.1 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Andrew R. Midler’s Savitr Capital.
Insider trading activity in Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APL)
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time period, Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APL) has seen 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APL). These stocks are Tesoro Logistics LP (NYSE:TLLP), Oiltanking Partners LP (NYSE:OILT), Inergy Midstream LP (NYSE:NRGM), Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:HEP), and SemGroup Corp (NYSE:SEMG). All of these stocks are in the oil & gas pipelines industry and their market caps resemble APL’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Tesoro Logistics LP (NYSE:TLLP) | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Oiltanking Partners LP (NYSE:OILT) | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Inergy Midstream LP (NYSE:NRGM) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:HEP) | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| SemGroup Corp (NYSE:SEMG) | 30 | 1 | 0 |
With the results exhibited by the aforementioned research, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APL) is an important part of this process.
