We at Insider Monkey have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the SEC The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30th. In this article, we look at what those funds think of Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) based on that data.
Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) was in 12 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. HLNE shareholders have witnessed an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with HLNE positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that HLNE isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the financial world there are a large number of tools investors have at their disposal to grade stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid amount. Insider Monkey’s flagship best performing hedge funds strategy returned 6.3% year to date (through December 3rd) and outperformed the market even though it draws its stock picks among small-cap stocks. This strategy also outperformed the market by 18 percentage points since its inception (see the details here). That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is a useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Let’s analyze the fresh hedge fund action encompassing Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE).
How are hedge funds trading Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 71% from one quarter earlier. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in HLNE over the last 13 quarters. So, let’s find out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the biggest position in Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE). Renaissance Technologies has a $39.5 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group, with a $17.8 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism comprise Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management, Martin Hughes’s Toscafund Asset Management and Jeffrey Hoffner’s Engle Capital.
Consequently, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, created the biggest position in Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE). Citadel Investment Group had $17.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management also initiated a $8.3 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Martin Hughes’s Toscafund Asset Management, Josh Donfeld and David Rogers’s Castle Hook Partners, and John W. Moon’s Moon Capital.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) but similarly valued. These stocks are TC Pipelines, LP (NYSE:TCP), Franklin Electric Co. (NASDAQ:FELE), MGE Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGEE), and Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble HLNE’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| TCP | 4 | 6039 | 1 |
| FELE | 10 | 220975 | 3 |
| MGEE | 8 | 32507 | 0 |
| SBH | 18 | 153278 | 0 |
| Average | 10 | 103200 | 1 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 10 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $103 million. That figure was $93 million in HLNE’s case. Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SBH) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand TC Pipelines, LP (NYSE:TCP) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard SBH might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.