Hedge Funds Are Selling Sierra Wireless, Inc. (USA) (SWIR)

Sierra Wireless, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SWIR) was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. SWIR investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund interest of late. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with SWIR positions at the end of the previous quarter.

In the financial world, there are tons of methods shareholders can use to analyze publicly traded companies. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can outpace the market by a significant margin (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the marketplace. There are a number of motivations for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if you understand what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a gander at the recent action encompassing Sierra Wireless, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SWIR).

What have hedge funds been doing with Sierra Wireless, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SWIR)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -11% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.

Of the funds we track, Roumell Asset Management, managed by Jim Roumell, holds the biggest position in Sierra Wireless, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SWIR). Roumell Asset Management has a $9.1 million position in the stock, comprising 5.8% of its 13F portfolio. On Roumell Asset Management’s heels is Peter A. Wright of P.A.W. CAPITAL PARTNERS, with a $2.2 million position; 1.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

Because Sierra Wireless, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SWIR) has witnessed a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies who sold off their full holdings heading into 2013. Interestingly, Mark A. Nordlicht’s Platinum Management cut the largest stake of the 450+ funds we watch, worth close to $0.1 million in stock. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds heading into 2013.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Sierra Wireless, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SWIR)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, Sierra Wireless, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SWIR) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero 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 Sierra Wireless, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SWIR). These stocks are Comtech Telecomm. Corp. (NASDAQ:CMTL), Calix Inc (NYSE:CALX), Allot Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ:ALLT), CalAmp Corp. (NASDAQ:CAMP), and Exfo Inc (NASDAQ:EXFO). This group of stocks belong to the communication equipment industry and their market caps are similar to SWIR’s market cap.

With the results shown by the aforementioned studies, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Sierra Wireless, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SWIR) applies perfectly to this mantra.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds