Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Linear Technology Corporation (LLTC)?

Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC) was in 23 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. LLTC shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund interest lately. There were 22 hedge funds in our database with LLTC holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many methods shareholders can use to monitor publicly traded companies. Two of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can beat the market by a significant amount (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the world of equities. There are a number of incentives for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if you know where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a gander at the recent action surrounding Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC).

How have hedgies been trading Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 23 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 5% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, First Eagle Investment Management, managed by Jean-Marie Eveillard, holds the largest position in Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC). First Eagle Investment Management has a $470.6 million position in the stock, comprising 1.6% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $339.7 million position; the fund has 0.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital, Christopher Lord’s Criterion Capital and George Soros’s Soros Fund Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key money managers have jumped into Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC) headfirst. Elliott Management, managed by Paul Singer, assembled the most outsized position in Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC). Elliott Management had 8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management also made a $3.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Insider trading activity in Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC)

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 14 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC). These stocks are LSI Corp (NASDAQ:LSI), ARM Holdings plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:ARMH), Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR), Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHP), and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). All of these stocks are in the semiconductor – specialized industry and their market caps are closest to LLTC’s market cap.