To the average investor, there are tons of methods shareholders can use to monitor their holdings. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can beat the S&P 500 by a healthy amount (see just how much).
Just as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the world of equities. There are a number of motivations for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a glance at the latest action regarding Bel Fuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFB).
What have hedge funds been doing with Bel Fuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFB)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 25% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, Third Avenue Management, managed by Martin Whitman, holds the most valuable position in Bel Fuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFB). Third Avenue Management has a $14.6 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $3.2 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk’s GRT Capital Partners and Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors.
As one would reasonably expect, some big names have been driving this bullishness. GRT Capital Partners, managed by Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk, initiated the biggest position in Bel Fuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFB). GRT Capital Partners had 0.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Bel Fuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFB)?
Insider buying is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Bel Fuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFB) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Bel Fuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFB). These stocks are Sparton Corporation (NYSE:SPA), American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:AMSC), Maxwell Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:MXWL), Vicor Corp (NASDAQ:VICR), and Neonode, Inc (NASDAQ:NEON). This group of stocks belong to the diversified electronics industry and their market caps resemble BELFB’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Sparton Corporation (NYSE:SPA) | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:AMSC) | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Maxwell Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:MXWL) | 10 | 0 | 2 |
| Vicor Corp (NASDAQ:VICR) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Neonode, Inc (NASDAQ:NEON) | 0 | 1 |
With the results demonstrated by our time-tested strategies, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Bel Fuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:BELFB) is an important part of this process.
