Hedge Funds Are Buying AVG Technologies NV (AVG)

Is AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG) ready to rally soon? Investors who are in the know are becoming hopeful. The number of bullish hedge fund positions went up by 5 recently.

To the average investor, there are a multitude of metrics investors can use to watch Mr. Market. A couple of the best 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 investment managers can trounce the market by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as important, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the world of equities. There are a number of motivations for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors know where to look (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a glance at the recent action encompassing AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG).

How have hedgies been trading AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 50% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.

Of the funds we track, Okumus Fund Management, managed by Ahmet Okumus, holds the largest position in AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG). Okumus Fund Management has a $75.6 million position in the stock, comprising 67.7% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Nokomis Capital, managed by Brett Hendrickson, which held a $8.7 million position; the fund has 2.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management, Seymour Sy Kaufman and Michael Stark’s Crosslink Capital and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds have jumped into AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG) headfirst. Nokomis Capital, managed by Brett Hendrickson, created the biggest position in AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG). Nokomis Capital had 8.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also initiated a $3 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital, John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies, and Philip Hempleman’s Ardsley Partners.

How have insiders been trading AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time frame, AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG). These stocks are FleetMatics Group PLC (NYSE:FLTX), Lifelock Inc (NYSE:LOCK), BroadSoft Inc (NASDAQ:BSFT), PROS Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRO), and Demandware Inc (NYSE:DWRE). This group of stocks belong to the application software industry and their market caps are similar to AVG’s market cap.

With the results demonstrated by our strategies, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG) is an important part of this process.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds