Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Intersil Corp (ISIL)?

Intersil Corp (NASDAQ:ISIL) was in 9 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. ISIL investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund interest lately. There were 8 hedge funds in our database with ISIL positions at the end of the previous quarter.

To the average investor, there are many methods investors can use to watch publicly traded companies. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are many motivations for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if you understand what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a peek at the latest action regarding Intersil Corp (NASDAQ:ISIL).

How are hedge funds trading Intersil Corp (NASDAQ:ISIL)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 13% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the biggest position in Intersil Corp (NASDAQ:ISIL). Citadel Investment Group has a $34.7 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $12 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Stuart Peterson’s Artis Capital Management, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.

Now, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, established the most outsized position in Intersil Corp (NASDAQ:ISIL). Royce & Associates had 1.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management also made a $0.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new ISIL position is John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

What have insiders been doing with Intersil Corp (NASDAQ:ISIL)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, Intersil Corp (NASDAQ:ISIL) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Intersil Corp (NASDAQ:ISIL). These stocks are Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD), M/A-COM Technology Solutions Holdings (NASDAQ:MTSI), Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:CY), Spreadtrum Communications, Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:SPRD), and Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDTI). This group of stocks are the members of the semiconductor – broad line industry and their market caps are closest to ISIL’s market cap.

With the results shown by our time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Intersil Corp (NASDAQ:ISIL) is no exception.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds