To the average investor, there are many methods investors can use to analyze Mr. Market. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outpace the market by a significant amount (see just how much).
Equally as key, positive insider trading activity is a second way to analyze the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of stimuli for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if you understand what to do (learn more here).
What’s more, we’re going to analyze the latest info surrounding Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX).
How have hedgies been trading Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX)?
At Q2’s end, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -17% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.
According to our 13F database, Eric Mindich’s Eton Park Capital had the largest position in Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX), worth close to $124.3 million, accounting for 2.4% of its total 13F portfolio. On Eton Park Capital’s heels is Philippe Laffont of Coatue Management, with a $74.5 million position; the fund has 0.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management, John Thaler’s JAT Capital Management and Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital.
Judging by the fact that Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX) has witnessed declining interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there was a specific group of fund managers who sold off their positions entirely last quarter. Intriguingly, John Armitage’s Egerton Capital Limited said goodbye to the biggest position of all the hedgies we track, totaling an estimated $83.9 million in stock. Dinakar Singh’s fund, TPG-AXON Management LP, also said goodbye to its stock, about $63.1 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds last quarter.
Insider trading activity in Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX)
Insider buying made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX). These stocks are LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI), Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN), Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM), and Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP). All of these stocks are in the internet information providers industry and their market caps resemble YNDX’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) | 45 | 0 | 0 |
| IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) | 35 | 0 | 0 |
| Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) | 36 | 0 | 0 |
| Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Tripadvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) | 42 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns shown by the previously mentioned tactics, average investors must always track hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX) is no exception.
