Global Cash Access Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GCA) shareholders have witnessed an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months.
In the financial world, there are plenty of methods market participants can use to analyze their holdings. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a healthy amount (see just how much).
Just as key, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. There are a number of reasons for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a peek at the latest action encompassing Global Cash Access Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GCA).
Hedge fund activity in Global Cash Access Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GCA)
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 38% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.
According to our comprehensive database, Gregg J. Powers’s Private Capital Management had the largest position in Global Cash Access Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GCA), worth close to $21 million, comprising 2% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, which held a $15 million position; the fund has 0% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Amy Minella’s Cardinal Capital, Gregory A. Weaver’s Invicta Capital Management and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
Now, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Invicta Capital Management, managed by Gregory A. Weaver, assembled the most outsized position in Global Cash Access Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GCA). Invicta Capital Management had 8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Robert Pohly’s Samlyn Capital also initiated a $7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new GCA positions are Anil Stevens and Glenn Shapiro’s Parameter Capital Management, Thomas Bailard’s Bailard Inc, and Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors.
Insider trading activity in Global Cash Access Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GCA)
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Global Cash Access Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GCA) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Global Cash Access Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GCA) is an important part of this process.
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