Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN) has seen an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late.
In the financial world, there are dozens of gauges market participants can use to watch the equity markets. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can beat the broader indices by a superb margin (see just how much).
Equally as integral, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are many motivations for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a look at the key action encompassing Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN).
How are hedge funds trading Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN)?
At year’s end, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 13% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Third Avenue Management, managed by Martin Whitman, holds the most valuable position in Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN). Third Avenue Management has a $11.3 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $7.7 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management, Mark Broach’s Manatuck Hill Partners and Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key money managers have been driving this bullishness. Manatuck Hill Partners, managed by Mark Broach, initiated the most outsized position in Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN). Manatuck Hill Partners had 0.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Barton Biggs’s Traxis Partners also initiated a $0.3 million position during the quarter.
How have insiders been trading Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero 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 Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN). These stocks are Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI), RCM Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCMT), CDI Corp. (NYSE:CDI), Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSII), and Hudson Global Inc (NASDAQ:HSON). This group of stocks belong to the staffing & outsourcing services industry and their market caps are similar to CCRN’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) | 12 | 0 | 3 |
| RCM Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCMT) | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| CDI Corp. (NYSE:CDI) | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSII) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Hudson Global Inc (NASDAQ:HSON) | 2 | 2 | 0 |
With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s studies, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
