Hedge Funds Are Selling NII Holdings, Inc. (NIHD)

NII Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NIHD) was in 12 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. NIHD has seen a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately. There were 19 hedge funds in our database with NIHD holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In the eyes of most shareholders, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, old investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading at the moment, we at Insider Monkey look at the bigwigs of this group, around 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group oversees the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by tracking their top equity investments, we have figured out a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see the details here).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are many reasons for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if investors know where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the key action encompassing NII Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NIHD).

How are hedge funds trading NII Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NIHD)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -37% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Steadfast Capital Management, managed by Robert Pitts, holds the biggest position in NII Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NIHD). Steadfast Capital Management has a $32.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.8% of its 13F portfolio. On Steadfast Capital Management’s heels is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $12.7 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, David Cohen and Harold Levy’s Iridian Asset Management and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.

Because NII Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NIHD) has experienced bearish sentiment from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there is a sect of fund managers that decided to sell off their full holdings in Q1. Intriguingly, Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management dropped the biggest position of the 450+ funds we key on, valued at about $71.9 million in stock., and Philippe Laffont of Coatue Management was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $51.6 million worth. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 7 funds in Q1.

What have insiders been doing with NII Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NIHD)?

Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time frame, NII Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NIHD) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to NII Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NIHD). These stocks are Pendrell Corporation – Class A (NASDAQ:PCO), Ubiquiti Networks Inc (NASDAQ:UBNT), Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ:LEAP), Partner Communications Company Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:PTNR), and Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL). This group of stocks are the members of the wireless communications industry and their market caps resemble NIHD’s market cap.

With the results exhibited by the aforementioned strategies, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and NII Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:NIHD) is an important part of this process.

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