Concur Technologies, Inc. (CNQR): Hedge Funds and Insiders Are Bearish, What Should You Do? – ANSYS, Inc. (ANSS), National Instruments Corp (NATI)

Concur Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNQR) was in 12 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. CNQR has seen a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately. There were 13 hedge funds in our database with CNQR holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

According to most stock holders, hedge funds are assumed to be unimportant, old investment vehicles of years past. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at present, we at Insider Monkey look at the leaders of this group, around 450 funds. It is estimated that this group has its hands on most of the smart money’s total asset base, and by keeping an eye on their highest performing equity investments, we have brought to light a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have topped the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (see the details here).

Equally as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the financial markets. Obviously, there are plenty of motivations for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if you know where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, let’s take a gander at the key action regarding Concur Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNQR).

What does the smart money think about Concur Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNQR)?

At year’s end, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -8% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.

Of the funds we track, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the largest position in Concur Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNQR), worth close to $16.8 million, accounting for less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Anand Parekh of Alyeska Investment Group, with a $10 million position; 0.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers with similar optimism include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital and Van Schreiber’s Bennett Lawrence Management.

Since Concur Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNQR) has faced a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few hedge funds who were dropping their entire stakes in Q4. At the top of the heap, SAC Subsidiary’s Sigma Capital Management dropped the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, valued at about $4.9 million in stock., and Israel Englander of Catapult Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $4.6 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds in Q4.

What have insiders been doing with Concur Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNQR)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, Concur Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNQR) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Concur Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNQR). These stocks are ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS), ACI Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ:ACIW), Mentor Graphics Corp (NASDAQ:MENT), PTC Inc (NASDAQ:PMTC), and National Instruments Corp (NASDAQ:NATI). This group of stocks are the members of the technical & system software industry and their market caps are similar to CNQR’s market cap.