Should smart Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT) investors consider tracking the following data?
In the financial world, there are plenty of metrics shareholders can use to monitor the equity markets. Two of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can beat the S&P 500 by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Just as necessary, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are many motivations for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if investors know where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to examine the recent info surrounding Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT).
Hedge fund activity in Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT)
In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 7% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.
According to our 13F database, Daniel Gold’s QVT Financial had the biggest position in Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT), worth close to $29.8 million, comprising 2% of its total 13F portfolio. On QVT Financial’s heels is Harvest Capital Strategies, managed by Joseph A. Jolson, which held a $27.9 million position; 2.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include David Gallo’s Valinor Management LLC, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Thomas E. Claugus’s GMT Capital.
As aggregate interest spiked, certain bigger names have been driving this bullishness. QVT Financial, managed by Daniel Gold, assembled the biggest position in Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT). QVT Financial had 29.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies also made a $27.9 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are David Gallo’s Valinor Management LLC, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, and Thomas E. Claugus’s GMT Capital.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT)?
Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time period, Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT). These stocks are Performant Financial Corp (NASDAQ:PFMT), American Public Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:APEI), Comverse Inc (NASDAQ:CNSI), COMSCORE, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCOR), and Examworks Group, Inc. (NYSE:EXAM). This group of stocks are in the business services industry and their market caps are closest to GDOT’s market cap.
