Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love MEMSIC, INC. (MEMS)?

MEMSIC, INC. (NASDAQ:MEMS) has seen an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately.

In the eyes of most traders, hedge funds are perceived as unimportant, outdated investment tools of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds trading today, we look at the crème de la crème of this group, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group has its hands on the majority of the smart money’s total capital, and by keeping an eye on their highest performing picks, we have discovered a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (explore the details and some picks here).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. There are plenty of stimuli for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action encompassing MEMSIC, INC. (NASDAQ:MEMS).

What have hedge funds been doing with MEMSIC, INC. (NASDAQ:MEMS)?

At year’s end, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 150% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management had the largest position in MEMSIC, INC. (NASDAQ:MEMS), worth close to $1.3 million, accounting for less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. On Pine River Capital Management’s heels is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $1 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Jay Petschek and Steven Major’s Corsair Capital Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Richard Chilton’s Chilton Investment Company.

Consequently, some big names have jumped into MEMSIC, INC. (NASDAQ:MEMS) headfirst. Pine River Capital Management, managed by Brian Taylor, created the largest position in MEMSIC, INC. (NASDAQ:MEMS). Pine River Capital Management had 1.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jay Petschek and Steven Major’s Corsair Capital Management also made a $0.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new MEMS positions are Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Richard Chilton’s Chilton Investment Company.

How have insiders been trading MEMSIC, INC. (NASDAQ:MEMS)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, MEMSIC, INC. (NASDAQ:MEMS) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to MEMSIC, INC. (NASDAQ:MEMS). These stocks are Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ), Rubicon Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RBCN), On Track Innovations Ltd.(USA) (NASDAQ:OTIV), Hanwha Solarone Co Ltd (NASDAQ:HSOL), and Vimicro International Corporation (ADR) (NASDAQ:VIMC). This group of stocks belong to the semiconductor – specialized industry and their market caps match MEMS’s market cap.

With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s studies, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and MEMSIC, INC. (NASDAQ:MEMS) applies perfectly to this mantra.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds