What’s smart AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS) investor to do?
To many investors, hedge funds are assumed to be bloated, outdated financial vehicles of an era lost to time. Although there are more than 8,000 hedge funds trading today, Insider Monkey looks at the upper echelon of this group, about 525 funds. It is widely held that this group oversees the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total assets, and by keeping an eye on their best investments, we’ve spotted a few investment strategies that have historically outpaced the S&P 500. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per 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 outpaced the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (find the details here).
Just as crucial, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of reasons for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to discuss the latest info for AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS).
Hedge fund activity in AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS)
At the end of the second quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 20% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.
According to our 13F database, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the most valuable position in AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS). Renaissance Technologies has a $7.6 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. On Renaissance Technologies’s heels is McKinley Capital Management, managed by Robert B. Gillam, which held a $3.9 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors.
Consequently, specific money managers have jumped into AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS) headfirst. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, assembled the largest position in AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS). Renaissance Technologies had 7.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management also made a $3.9 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new AHS investors: Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS)?
Bullish insider trading is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS). These stocks are DICE HOLDINGS, INC. (NYSE:DHX), Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY), Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI), Compass Diversified Holdings (NYSE:CODI), and Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA). This group of stocks are in the staffing & outsourcing services industry and their market caps are closest to AHS’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| DICE HOLDINGS, INC. (NYSE:DHX) | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY) | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Compass Diversified Holdings (NYSE:CODI) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns shown by our studies, regular investors must always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
