Should Fairchild Semiconductor Intl Inc (NYSE:FCS) investors track the following data?
To many traders, hedge funds are perceived as delayed, outdated financial tools of a period lost to current times. Although there are over 8,000 hedge funds trading today, Insider Monkey focuses on the leaders of this group, about 525 funds. It is widely held that this group has its hands on most of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by paying attention to their highest quality equity investments, we’ve uncovered a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we‘ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outperformed the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (explore the details and some picks here).
Equally as useful, positive insider trading activity is another way to analyze the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of stimuli for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, it’s important to discuss the latest info for Fairchild Semiconductor Intl Inc (NYSE:FCS).
How are hedge funds trading Fairchild Semiconductor Intl Inc (NYSE:FCS)?
Heading into Q3, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -17% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.
According to our 13F database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in Fairchild Semiconductor Intl Inc (NYSE:FCS), worth close to $176.9 million, comprising 0.5% of its total 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management, with a $70.6 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners, Ron Gutfleish’s Elm Ridge Capital and Mark A. Nordlicht’s Platinum Management.
Because Fairchild Semiconductor Intl Inc (NYSE:FCS) has witnessed a fall in interest from the top-tier hedge fund industry, we can see that there was a specific group of funds who sold off their entire stakes last quarter. Intriguingly, Panayotis æTakisÆ Sparaggis’s Alkeon Capital Management dropped the largest investment of the 450+ funds we track, worth an estimated $37 million in stock, and Dmitry Balyasny of Balyasny Asset Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $5.1 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 3 funds last quarter.
Insider trading activity in Fairchild Semiconductor Intl Inc (NYSE:FCS)
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 frame, Fairchild Semiconductor Intl Inc (NYSE:FCS) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Fairchild Semiconductor Intl Inc (NYSE:FCS). These stocks are International Rectifier Corporation (NYSE:IRF), RF Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:RFMD), Microsemi Corporation (NASDAQ:MSCC), Hittite Microwave Corp (NASDAQ:HITT), and Semiconductor Manufacturing Int’l (ADR) (NYSE:SMI). All of these stocks are in the semiconductor – integrated circuits industry and their market caps are closest to FCS’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| International Rectifier Corporation (NYSE:IRF) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| RF Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:RFMD) | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| Microsemi Corporation (NASDAQ:MSCC) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Hittite Microwave Corp (NASDAQ:HITT) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Semiconductor Manufacturing Int’l (ADR) (NYSE:SMI) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns demonstrated by our analyses, regular investors should always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Fairchild Semiconductor Intl Inc (NYSE:FCS) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
