In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of metrics investors can use to monitor publicly traded companies. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a superb amount (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the financial markets. There are a number of motivations for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if you know where to look (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a glance at the recent action regarding FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT).
How are hedge funds trading FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 46% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.
Of the funds we track, Jonathan Auerbach’s Hound Partners had the biggest position in FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT), worth close to $141 million, comprising 11% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Tiger Global Management LLC, with a $140 million position; 2.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies with similar optimism include David Gallo’s Valinor Management LLC, Lee Ainslie’s Maverick Capital and Scott McLellan’s Marble Arch Investments.
Now, specific money managers have jumped into FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT) headfirst. Tiger Global Management LLC assembled the most outsized position in FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT). Tiger Global Management LLC had 140 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Lee Ainslie’s Maverick Capital also made a $98 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are J Kevin Kenny Jr’s Emerging Sovereign Group, Ricky Sandler’s Eminence Capital, and Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management.
Insider trading activity in FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT)
Bullish insider trading is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 20 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT) is no exception.
Click here to learn more about Insider Monkey’s Hedge Fund Newsletter
Insider Monkey’s small-cap strategy returned 29.2% between September 2012 and February 2013 versus 8.7% for the S&P 500 index. Try it now by clicking the link above.
