To most market participants, hedge funds are viewed as slow, outdated financial vehicles of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading at the moment, we look at the masters of this group, about 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group has its hands on most of the smart money’s total capital, and by tracking their top picks, we have unearthed a number of investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year 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 trumped the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (see the details here).
Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. There are plenty of incentives for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a peek at the latest action encompassing VCA Antech Inc (NASDAQ:WOOF).
What does the smart money think about VCA Antech Inc (NASDAQ:WOOF)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 21% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, P2 Capital Partners, managed by Claus Moller, holds the biggest position in VCA Antech Inc (NASDAQ:WOOF). P2 Capital Partners has a $52 million position in the stock, comprising 10% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Pzena Investment Management, managed by Richard S. Pzena, which held a $35 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Thomas Steyer’s Farallon Capital, Ricky Sandler’s Eminence Capital and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Eminence Capital, managed by Ricky Sandler, initiated the most valuable position in VCA Antech Inc (NASDAQ:WOOF). Eminence Capital had 22 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital also initiated a $19 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Xerion, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.
What have insiders been doing with VCA Antech Inc (NASDAQ:WOOF)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, VCA Antech Inc (NASDAQ:WOOF) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s tactics, everyday investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and VCA Antech Inc (NASDAQ:WOOF) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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