Hedge Funds Are Dumping Guidance Software, Inc. (GUID)

Guidance Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:GUID) was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. GUID investors should be aware of a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately. There were 8 hedge funds in our database with GUID positions at the end of the previous quarter.

In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of gauges market participants can use to analyze the equity markets. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a significant margin (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are a number of motivations for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, let’s take a glance at the recent action surrounding Guidance Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:GUID).

How have hedgies been trading Guidance Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:GUID)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.

Of the funds we track, Lanexa Global Management, managed by Ian P. Murray, holds the largest position in Guidance Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:GUID). Lanexa Global Management has a $3.9 million position in the stock, comprising 5.6% of its 13F portfolio. On Lanexa Global Management’s heels is Prescott Group Capital Management, managed by Phil Frohlich, which held a $3 million position; the fund has 0.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include John Zaro’s Bourgeon Capital, Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors and Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors.

Due to the fact that Guidance Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:GUID) has witnessed falling interest from the smart money, logic holds that there is a sect of funds who sold off their entire stakes at the end of the year. Intriguingly, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies sold off the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, valued at about $0.2 million in stock.. Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s fund, Arrowstreet Capital, also sold off its stock, about $0.1 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

How are insiders trading Guidance Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:GUID)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Guidance Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:GUID) has seen 2 unique insiders buying, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Guidance Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:GUID). These stocks are DTS Inc. (NASDAQ:DTSI), Active Network Inc (NYSE:ACTV), Vringo, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:VRNG), Actuate Corporation (NASDAQ:BIRT), and RealNetworks Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK). This group of stocks belong to the application software industry and their market caps are similar to GUID’s market cap.

With the results shown by our studies, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Guidance Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:GUID) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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