Insider Monkey finished processing more than 700 13F filings made by hedge funds and prominent investors. These filings show these funds’ portfolio positions as of September 30. What do these smart investors think about FEI Company (NASDAQ:FEIC)?
FEI Company was in 15 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. FEIC has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest lately. There were 13 hedge funds in our database with FEIC positions at the end of the previous quarter. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity, but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Catalent Inc (NYSE:CTLT), HSN, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSNI), and New Residential Investment Corp (NYSE:NRZ) to gather more data points.
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Today there are a large number of metrics market participants employ to assess stocks. A couple of the most underrated metrics are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can beat their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see the details here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s check out the new action surrounding FEI Company (NASDAQ:FEIC).
How have hedgies been trading FEI Company (NASDAQ:FEIC)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 15 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 15% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management has the largest position in FEI Company (NASDAQ:FEIC), worth close to $64.5 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Gotham Asset Management, led by Joel Greenblatt, holding a $19.3 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions contain Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s First Pacific Advisors LLC, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.
As aggregate interest increased, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Gotham Asset Management assembled the most outsized position in FEI Company (NASDAQ:FEIC). Peter Muller’s PDT Partners also initiated a $2.5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new FEIC positions are Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, George Hall’s Clinton Group, and Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management.
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to FEI Company (NASDAQ:FEIC). These stocks are Catalent Inc (NYSE:CTLT), HSN, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSNI), New Residential Investment Corp (NYSE:NRZ), and PrivateBancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVTB). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to FEIC’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| CTLT | 14 | 46040 | -3 |
| HSNI | 10 | 58542 | -10 |
| NRZ | 33 | 674420 | -5 |
| PVTB | 15 | 233875 | -2 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 18 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $253 million. That figure was $124 million in FEIC’s case. New Residential Investment Corp (NYSE:NRZ) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand HSN, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSNI) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. FEI Company (NASDAQ:FEIC) is not the least popular stock in this group. but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard NRZ might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
