Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (TTWO)?

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) investors should pay attention to an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately.

In today’s marketplace, there are plenty of metrics market participants can use to analyze Mr. Market. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of motivations for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if you understand where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a peek at the key action encompassing Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO).

How have hedgies been trading Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 26 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 8% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Carl Icahn’s Icahn Capital LP had the most valuable position in Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO), worth close to $194.1 million, comprising 1.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Icahn Capital LP’s heels is Larry Robbins of Glenview Capital, with a $94.5 million position; the fund has 1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Michael Lowenstein’s Kensico Capital, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.

Now, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS, managed by Joe DiMenna, created the most outsized position in Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO). ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS had 17.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Wojciech Uzdelewicz’s Espalier Global Management also initiated a $5.2 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Jeffrey Jon Berney’s TriOaks Capital Management, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, and Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider’s SG Capital Management.

What have insiders been doing with Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO). These stocks are Konami Corp (ADR) (NYSE:KNM), Shanda Games Limited(ADR) (NASDAQ:GAME), Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ:ROVI), Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSOD), and Changyou.Com Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:CYOU). This group of stocks are in the multimedia & graphics software industry and their market caps are closest to TTWO’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by our strategies, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) is no exception.

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