Hedge Funds Are Buying Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (USA) (OPY)

Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (USA) (NYSE:OPY) investors should pay attention to an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late.

To most shareholders, hedge funds are perceived as underperforming, outdated financial tools of years past. While there are over 8000 funds trading today, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the bigwigs of this club, close to 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group has its hands on most of the smart money’s total capital, and by monitoring their best picks, we have brought to light a few investment strategies that have historically outpaced the S&P 500 index. 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 started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are many incentives for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a glance at the key action surrounding Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (USA) (NYSE:OPY).

How are hedge funds trading Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (USA) (NYSE:OPY)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 20% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.

Of the funds we track, GMT Capital, managed by Thomas E. Claugus, holds the biggest position in Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (USA) (NYSE:OPY). GMT Capital has a $15.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Gregg J. Powers of Private Capital Management, with a $10.8 million position; 1.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedgies that are bullish include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies and J. Carlo Cannell’s Cannell Capital.

Now, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Cannell Capital, managed by J. Carlo Cannell, initiated the most valuable position in Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (USA) (NYSE:OPY). Cannell Capital had 0.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.

Insider trading activity in Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (USA) (NYSE:OPY)

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (USA) (NYSE:OPY) has seen zero 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 Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (USA) (NYSE:OPY). These stocks are Greenhill & Co., Inc. (NYSE:GHL), Palmetto Bancshares Inc (NASDAQ:PLMT), Investment Technology Group (NYSE:ITG), Knight Capital Group Inc. (NYSE:KCG), and SWS Group, Inc. (NYSE:SWS). This group of stocks belong to the investment brokerage – regional industry and their market caps are closest to OPY’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s strategies, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (USA) (NYSE:OPY) is no exception.

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