Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG) was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. AMSG has experienced an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with AMSG positions at the end of the previous quarter.
To most shareholders, hedge funds are seen as unimportant, old financial tools of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading at the moment, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the masters of this group, around 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group has its hands on most of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by paying attention to their highest performing picks, we have deciphered a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have topped the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (explore the details and some picks here).
Equally as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are lots of reasons for a corporate insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a glance at the latest action surrounding Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG).
How have hedgies been trading Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 44% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.
Of the funds we track, Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management had the biggest position in Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG), worth close to $8 million, comprising 0.4% of its total 13F portfolio. On Sandler Capital Management’s heels is Polar Capital, managed by Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley, which held a $5 million position; 0% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
As industrywide interest jumped, some big names have jumped into Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG) headfirst. Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, established the largest position in Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG). Millennium Management had 1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management also initiated a $0 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new AMSG positions are David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital, and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.
How have insiders been trading Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG). These stocks are Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH), Health Management Associates Inc (NYSE:HMA), LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPNT), Select Medical Holdings Corporation (NYSE:SEM), and Vanguard Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE:VHS). This group of stocks are in the hospitals industry and their market caps are similar to AMSG’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) | 19 | 0 | 10 |
| Health Management Associates Inc (NYSE:HMA) | 19 | 2 | 3 |
| LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPNT) | 19 | 0 | 5 |
| Select Medical Holdings Corporation (NYSE:SEM) | 11 | 0 | 8 |
| Vanguard Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE:VHS) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
With the returns shown by our time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG) applies perfectly to this mantra.
