In the financial world, there are dozens of metrics shareholders can use to track publicly traded companies. Two of the best 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 best hedge fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a very impressive amount (see just how much).
Just as key, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the world of equities. There are a number of reasons for a corporate insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the key action surrounding AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (NYSE:AU).
How are hedge funds trading AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (NYSE:AU)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 22 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -12% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Paulson & Co, managed by John Paulson, holds the most valuable position in AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (NYSE:AU). Paulson & Co has a $665.4 million position in the stock, comprising 3.8% of its 13F portfolio. On Paulson & Co’s heels is Jean-Marie Eveillard of First Eagle Investment Management, with a $116.5 million position; 0.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers that hold long positions include John Paulson’s Paulson & Co, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and John Burbank’s Passport Capital.
Seeing as AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (NYSE:AU) has witnessed a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of funds that slashed their entire stakes heading into Q2. Interestingly, John Paulson’s Paulson & Co dropped the largest investment of the 450+ funds we key on, worth about $113.4 million in stock., and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell of Arrowstreet Capital was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $27 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds heading into Q2.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (NYSE:AU)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (NYSE:AU) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (NYSE:AU). These stocks are Yamana Gold Inc. (USA) (NYSE:AUY), Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (USA) (NYSE:AEM), Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA (ADR) (NYSE:BVN), Randgold Resources Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:GOLD), and Kinross Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:KGC). This group of stocks are the members of the gold industry and their market caps are closest to AU’s market cap.
