Hedge Funds Are Buying Imperva Inc (IMPV)

Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV) was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. IMPV has seen an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with IMPV positions at the end of the previous quarter.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of gauges market participants can use to watch their holdings. A pair of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can beat the market by a solid margin (see just how much).

Just as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of reasons for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a look at the recent action regarding Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV).

Hedge fund activity in Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV)

At Q1’s end, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 11% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Alkeon Capital Management, managed by Panayotis Takis Sparaggis, holds the biggest position in Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV). Alkeon Capital Management has a $31.4 million position in the stock, comprising 0.7% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Andor Capital Management, managed by Daniel Benton, which held a $13.5 million position; 1.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital, Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital and Philip Hempleman’s Ardsley Partners.

Consequently, key money managers have been driving this bullishness. Ardsley Partners, managed by Philip Hempleman, initiated the most outsized position in Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV). Ardsley Partners had 5.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Mark Broach’s Manatuck Hill Partners also initiated a $4.1 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

How have insiders been trading Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time frame, Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 11 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Imperva Inc (NYSE:IMPV). These stocks are Lifelock Inc (NYSE:LOCK), FleetMatics Group PLC (NYSE:FLTX), Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:TYPE), Jive Software Inc (NASDAQ:JIVE), and Insight Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:NSIT). All of these stocks are in the application software industry and their market caps match IMPV’s market cap.