Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) was in 24 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. AMAT has experienced a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 27 hedge funds in our database with AMAT positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In today’s marketplace, there are many metrics market participants can use to analyze Mr. Market. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can outperform the broader indices by a superb margin (see just how much).
Just as integral, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are lots of stimuli for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).
Now, it’s important to take a look at the key action surrounding Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT).
What have hedge funds been doing with Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 24 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -11% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Sandy Nairn’s Edinburgh Partners had the most valuable position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), worth close to $187 million, comprising 10.6% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is International Value Advisers, managed by Charles de Vaulx, which held a $174 million position; 0.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include Martin Whitman’s Third Avenue Management, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and Daniel Bubis’s Tetrem Capital Management.
Due to the fact that Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has faced a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there is a sect of money managers who were dropping their positions entirely at the end of the year. It’s worth mentioning that Thomas E. Claugus’s GMT Capital dropped the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, valued at close to $10 million in stock.. Joel Greenblatt’s fund, Gotham Asset Management, also said goodbye to its stock, about $1 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds at the end of the year.
What have insiders been doing with Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)?
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time frame, Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has seen 2 unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results demonstrated by our research, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is an important part of this process.
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