SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) was in 54 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. SNDK investors should be aware of an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. There were 50 hedge funds in our database with SNDK positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In the financial world, there are tons of gauges shareholders can use to monitor Mr. Market. A duo of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can outperform the market by a significant margin (see just how much).
Equally as important, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are many reasons for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, let’s take a glance at the recent action regarding SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK).
How have hedgies been trading SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 54 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 8% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Michael Lowenstein’s Kensico Capital had the largest position in SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), worth close to $261.1 million, comprising 6.9% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Sandy Nairn of Edinburgh Partners, with a $222.7 million position; 13.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Panayotis Takis Sparaggis’s Alkeon Capital Management, Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management and Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors.
As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers have jumped into SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) headfirst. Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, established the largest position in SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK). Columbus Circle Investors had 134 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Lykouretzos’s Hoplite Capital Management also initiated a $73.4 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Curtis Macnguyen’s Ivory Capital (Investment Mgmt), Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital, and Sean Cullinan’s Point State Capital.
Insider trading activity in SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK)
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time period, SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK). These stocks are Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRCD), EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC), Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC), NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP), and Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX). This group of stocks are the members of the data storage devices industry and their market caps match SNDK’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRCD) | 25 | 0 | 2 |
| EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) | 59 | 1 | 8 |
| Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC) | 33 | 0 | 11 |
| NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) | 42 | 0 | 4 |
| Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) | 29 | 0 | 14 |
With the returns demonstrated by our research, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
