In the financial world, there are a multitude of indicators shareholders can use to track publicly traded companies. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can outpace the broader indices by a solid amount (see just how much).
Equally as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. Obviously, there are a variety of stimuli for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, it’s important to take a glance at the recent action surrounding F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV).
What does the smart money think about F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)?
Heading into Q2, a total of 30 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 11% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Lee Ainslie’s Maverick Capital had the largest position in F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV), worth close to $182.1 million, comprising 2.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is D. E. Shaw of D E Shaw, with a $66.1 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other peers that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Eric Bannasch’s Cadian Capital and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.
Now, specific money managers have jumped into F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) headfirst. Carlson Capital, managed by Clint Carlson, established the biggest position in F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV). Carlson Capital had 11.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors also initiated a $11.3 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new FFIV investors: Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, and George Soros’s Soros Fund Management.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time frame, F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV). These stocks are Catamaran Corp (USA) (NASDAQ:CTRX), Workday Inc (NYSE:WDAY), Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:RHT), Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN), and BMC Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:BMC). This group of stocks are in the application software industry and their market caps are similar to FFIV’s market cap.
