GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT) was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. GTAT investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with GTAT holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
To most traders, hedge funds are viewed as unimportant, old financial tools of years past. While there are more than 8000 funds with their doors open today, we at Insider Monkey look at the masters of this club, around 450 funds. It is estimated that this group has its hands on most of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by tracking their highest performing equity investments, we have unsheathed a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have trumped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).
Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of stimuli for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).
Now, it’s important to take a gander at the key action encompassing GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT).
What have hedge funds been doing with GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT)?
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -24% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Kerr Neilson’s Platinum Asset Management had the largest position in GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT), worth close to $11.2 million, comprising 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Prescott Group Capital Management, managed by Phil Frohlich, which held a $3.2 million position; the fund has 0.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Andrew R. Midler’s Savitr Capital and Eric Sprott’s Sprott Asset Management.
Due to the fact that GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT) has faced a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there exists a select few hedge funds that slashed their entire stakes at the end of the first quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Bart Baum’s Ionic Capital Management dumped the biggest position of the 450+ funds we track, worth an estimated $1.1 million in call options. Glenn Russell Dubin’s fund, Highbridge Capital Management, also cut its stock, about $0.4 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 4 funds at the end of the first quarter.
Insider trading activity in GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT)
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 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).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity 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 closest to GTAT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:JASO) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| NVE Corporation (NASDAQ:NVEC) | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TSL) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| IXYS Corporation (NASDAQ:IXYS) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ:CEVA) | 10 | 0 | 1 |
With the results exhibited by our tactics, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT) applies perfectly to this mantra.
