It is important to track the activity of hedge funds, especially when it’s such a big hedge fund as Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin. One of the easiest ways to keep updated regarding the latest moves made by a hedge fund is via its filings with the SEC. In this way, Citadel Investment Group recently disclosed ownership of some 2.5 million shares of Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL).
At the current price of Finish Line’s stock, the value of Citadel’s position in the company amounts to $54.5 million. Taking into account the amount disclosed in the most recent 13F, we can note that Ken Griffin’s hedge fund added slightly below 1.1 million shares to its stake in Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL), a major move.
At the moment, there are dozens of methods investors can use to analyze Mr. Market. Two of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a solid amount (see just how much).
Just as crucial, positive insider trading activity is a second way to look at the world of equities. Obviously, there are a variety of motivations for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).
Thus, we’re going to analyze the latest info for Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL).
How have hedgies been trading Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL)?
At Q2’s end, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -23% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.
According to our 13F database, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the biggest position in Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL). Royce & Associates has a $125.5 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Richard Rubin of Hawkeye Capital, with a $45.3 million position; 14.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers that are bullish include David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.
Due to the fact Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL) has experienced a fall in interest from the top-tier hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of fund managers who sold off their entire stakes last quarter. Intriguingly, Craig C. Albert’s Sheffield Asset Management sold off the largest position of the 450+ funds we watch, valued at close to $3.2 million in stock, and D. E. Shaw of D E Shaw was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $1.4 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds last quarter.
How are insiders trading Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL)?
Insider buying made by high-level executives is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Finish Line Inc (NASDAQ:FINL). These stocks are Francesca’s Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:FRAN), EZCORP Inc (NASDAQ:EZPW), Office Depot Inc (NYSE:ODP), OfficeMax Inc (NYSE:OMX), and Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS). This group of stocks are in the specialty retail, other industry and their market caps are closest to FINL’s market cap.
