Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT) was in 22 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. MAT has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 19 hedge funds in our database with MAT positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In today’s marketplace, there are a multitude of indicators market participants can use to watch their holdings. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can outpace the market by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are lots of reasons for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a glance at the key action encompassing Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT).
What does the smart money think about Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT)?
At year’s end, a total of 22 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 16% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the largest position in Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT), worth close to $51 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $28 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, David Harding’s Winton Capital Management and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
As aggregate interest increased, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Bailard Inc, managed by Thomas Bailard, created the most valuable position in Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT). Bailard Inc had 3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Michael Platt and William Reeves’s BlueCrest Capital Mgmt. also made a $1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new MAT investors: Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
Insider trading activity in Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT)
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 15 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results shown by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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