Is Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE:QUAD) a buy right now? The best stock pickers are buying. The number of bullish hedge fund positions rose by 1 recently.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of methods shareholders can use to analyze Mr. Market. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can trounce the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).
Equally as important, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the marketplace. Obviously, there are many stimuli for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a gander at the key action encompassing Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE:QUAD).
What does the smart money think about Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE:QUAD)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 10% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.
According to our comprehensive database, Mark T. Gallogly’s Centerbridge Partners had the biggest position in Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE:QUAD), worth close to $54.6 million, accounting for 6.3% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Angelo Gordon & Co, managed by John M. Angelo and Michael L. Gordon, which held a $52.7 million position; the fund has 3.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Ron Gutfleish’s Elm Ridge Capital, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Pasco Alfaro / Richard Tumure’s Miura Global Management.
As aggregate interest increased, key money managers have jumped into Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE:QUAD) headfirst. GRT Capital Partners, managed by Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk, created the biggest position in Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE:QUAD). GRT Capital Partners had 0.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.
What have insiders been doing with Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE:QUAD)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time period, Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE:QUAD) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE:QUAD). These stocks are ABM Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ABM), ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS), NetSpend Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:NTSP), TeleTech Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTEC), and Atlas Resource Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ARP). This group of stocks are in the business services industry and their market caps are closest to QUAD’s market cap.
