Anixter International Inc. (NYSE:AXE) was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. AXE investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with AXE positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In the financial world, there are a multitude of metrics investors can use to track publicly traded companies. A pair of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a superb amount (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of incentives for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action regarding Anixter International Inc. (NYSE:AXE).
Hedge fund activity in Anixter International Inc. (NYSE:AXE)
In preparation for this year, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.
According to our comprehensive database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the biggest position in Anixter International Inc. (NYSE:AXE), worth close to $93 million, comprising 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management, with a $52 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management, John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments and Matthew Lindenbaum’s Basswood Capital.
Due to the fact that Anixter International Inc. (NYSE:AXE) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of hedgies that slashed their entire stakes heading into 2013. Intriguingly, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors cut the largest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, worth about $0 million in stock., and John Overdeck and David Siegel of Two Sigma Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $0 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
How have insiders been trading Anixter International Inc. (NYSE:AXE)?
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, Anixter International Inc. (NYSE:AXE) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Anixter International Inc. (NYSE:AXE). These stocks are Watsco Inc (NYSE:WSO), Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:ARW), Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT), Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (US) (NASDAQ:ITRN), and VOXX International Corp (NASDAQ:VOXX). This group of stocks belong to the electronics wholesale industry and their market caps match AXE’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Watsco Inc (NYSE:WSO) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:ARW) | 18 | 0 | 8 |
| Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) | 19 | 0 | 8 |
| Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (US) (NASDAQ:ITRN) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| VOXX International Corp (NASDAQ:VOXX) | 9 | 4 | 2 |
With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Anixter International Inc. (NYSE:AXE) is an important part of this process.
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