In the financial world, there are plenty of gauges investors can use to track publicly traded companies. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can beat their index-focused peers by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Equally as necessary, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to look at the financial markets. Obviously, there are a number of stimuli for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if investors know what to do (learn more here).
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s discuss the newest info surrounding GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT).
How are hedge funds trading GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT)?
At the end of the second quarter, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -23% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, Platinum Asset Management, managed by Kerr Neilson, holds the largest position in GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT). Platinum Asset Management has a $17 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Andy Redleaf of Whitebox Advisors, with a $1.5 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Philip Hempleman’s Ardsley Partners, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments.
Since GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT) has experienced bearish sentiment from the top-tier hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few funds that slashed their positions entirely at the end of the second quarter. Interestingly, Phil Frohlich’s Prescott Group Capital Management said goodbye to the largest investment of the 450+ funds we key on, worth about $3.2 million in stock. Joel Greenblatt’s fund, Gotham Asset Management, also said goodbye to its stock, about $3 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell by 3 funds at the end of the second quarter.
Insider trading activity in GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT)
Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT). These stocks are JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:JASO), NVE Corporation (NASDAQ:NVEC), Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TSL), IXYS Corporation (NASDAQ:IXYS), and CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ:CEVA). This group of stocks are the members of the semiconductor – specialized industry and their market caps are similar to GTAT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:JASO) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| NVE Corporation (NASDAQ:NVEC) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TSL) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| IXYS Corporation (NASDAQ:IXYS) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ:CEVA) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
Using the results demonstrated by the previously mentioned strategies, regular investors must always track hedge fund and insider trading activity, and GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT) applies perfectly to this mantra.
