Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM), Telenav Inc (NASDAQ:TNAV): This Metric Says You Are Smart to Sell Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX)

Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) was in 11 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. AFFX has seen a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with AFFX positions at the end of the previous quarter.

To the average investor, there are many metrics market participants can use to monitor publicly traded companies. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. Obviously, there are plenty of motivations for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if investors know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action surrounding Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX).

How are hedge funds trading Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -21% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.

Of the funds we track, OrbiMed Advisors, managed by Samuel Isaly, holds the biggest position in Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX). OrbiMed Advisors has a $22 million position in the stock, comprising 0.7% of its 13F portfolio. On OrbiMed Advisors’s heels is Levin Capital Strategies, managed by John A. Levin, which held a $12 million position; 1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies with similar optimism include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management.

Because Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) has experienced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few hedgies who were dropping their full holdings last quarter. Intriguingly, Richard Schimel’s Diamondback Capital dumped the largest investment of the 450+ funds we monitor, totaling an estimated $4 million in stock., and Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $0 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds last quarter.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) has experienced 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 Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX). These stocks are Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM), Telenav Inc (NASDAQ:TNAV), Zygo Corporation (NASDAQ:ZIGO), GSI Group Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:GSIG), and Rudolph Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:RTEC). This group of stocks belong to the scientific & technical instruments industry and their market caps are closest to AFFX’s market cap.

With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.