“October lived up to its scary reputation—the S&P 500 falling in the month by the largest amount in the last 40 years, the only worse Octobers being ’08 and the Crash of ’87. For perspective, there have been only 5 occasions in those 40 years when the S&P 500 declined by greater than 20% from peak to trough. Other than the ’87 Crash, all were during recessions. There were 17 other instances, over the same time frame, when the market fell by over 10% but less than 20%. Furthermore, this is the 18th correction of 5% or more since the current bull market started in March ’09. Corrections are the norm. They can be healthy as they often undo market complacency—overbought levels—potentially allowing the market to base and move even higher.” This is how Trapeze Asset Management summarized the recent market moves in its investor letter. We pay attention to what hedge funds are doing in a particular stock before considering a potential investment because it works for us. So let’s take a glance at the smart money sentiment towards one of the stocks hedge funds invest in.
Cyberark Software Ltd (NASDAQ:CYBR) was in 24 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. CYBR has seen an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with CYBR holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that CYBR isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
Today there are a multitude of gauges shareholders use to assess publicly traded companies. A duo of the less utilized gauges are hedge fund and insider trading interest. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a solid amount (see the details here).
Let’s take a glance at the fresh hedge fund action surrounding Cyberark Software Ltd (NASDAQ:CYBR).
What have hedge funds been doing with Cyberark Software Ltd (NASDAQ:CYBR)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 24 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 41% from one quarter earlier. On the other hand, there were a total of 15 hedge funds with a bullish position in CYBR at the beginning of this year. So, let’s find out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in Cyberark Software Ltd (NASDAQ:CYBR) was held by RGM Capital, which reported holding $75 million worth of stock at the end of September. It was followed by Eminence Capital with a $67.6 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Citadel Investment Group, Arrowstreet Capital, and Alyeska Investment Group.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names were breaking ground themselves. Driehaus Capital, managed by Richard Driehaus, established the most valuable position in Cyberark Software Ltd (NASDAQ:CYBR). Driehaus Capital had $9.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Frank Slattery’s Symmetry Peak Management also initiated a $1.9 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new CYBR investors: Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP, Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp, and Jeffrey Talpins’s Element Capital Management.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Cyberark Software Ltd (NASDAQ:CYBR). These stocks are Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD), Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN), Watts Water Technologies Inc (NYSE:WTS), and J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF). This group of stocks’ market valuations match CYBR’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRWD | 17 | 316714 | 1 |
| STN | 5 | 82481 | 0 |
| WTS | 15 | 351313 | 2 |
| JJSF | 10 | 85668 | 1 |
| Average | 11.75 | 209044 | 1 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 11.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $209 million. That figure was $408 million in CYBR’s case. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Cyberark Software Ltd (NASDAQ:CYBR) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
