Should STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ:STEC) investors track the following data?
In the financial world, there are plenty of metrics market participants can use to watch stocks. A couple of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Equally as crucial, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to look at the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of incentives for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).
What’s more, it’s important to study the recent info about STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ:STEC).
Hedge fund activity in STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ:STEC)
In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 7% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.
Out of the hedge funds we follow, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the largest position in STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ:STEC), worth close to $10.8 million, accounting for less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $8.9 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management, Eric Bannasch’s Cadian Capital and Sander Gerber’s Hudson Bay Capital Management.
As one would understandably expect, particular hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, created the biggest position in STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ:STEC). Renaissance Technologies had 10.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management also initiated a $8.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new STEC positions are Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management, Eric Bannasch’s Cadian Capital, and Sander Gerber’s Hudson Bay Capital Management.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ:STEC)?
Insider buying is most useful when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ:STEC) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ:STEC). These stocks are OCZ Technology Group Inc. (NASDAQ:OCZ), Quantum Corp (NYSE:QTM), Imation Corp. (NYSE:IMN), Xyratex Ltd. (NASDAQ:XRTX), and Datalink Corporation (NASDAQ:DTLK). This group of stocks are the members of the data storage devices industry and their market caps are closest to STEC’s market cap.
