MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ) shareholders have witnessed an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately.
If you’d ask most stock holders, hedge funds are viewed as underperforming, outdated investment vehicles of the past. While there are over 8000 funds with their doors open at the moment, we choose to focus on the upper echelon of this club, about 450 funds. It is estimated that this group controls the majority of the smart money’s total asset base, and by watching their top stock picks, we have brought to light a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have topped the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (check out a sample of our picks).
Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of reasons for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).
Now, it’s important to take a glance at the latest action regarding MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ).
What have hedge funds been doing with MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 21 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 75% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.
According to our comprehensive database, Peconic Partners LLC, managed by William Harnisch, holds the most valuable position in MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ). Peconic Partners LLC has a $53 million position in the stock, comprising 10.5% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, which held a $25 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, initiated the most valuable position in MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ). Columbus Circle Investors had 25 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management also made a $23 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new MTZ positions are Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
How have insiders been trading MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ)?
Insider buying is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns shown by the aforementioned tactics, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and MasTec, Inc. (NYSE:MTZ) is no exception.
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