Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About Fluidigm Corporation (FLDM) Anymore

Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM) was in 7 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. FLDM investors should pay attention to a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. There were 10 hedge funds in our database with FLDM holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In the financial world, there are a multitude of metrics investors can use to monitor Mr. Market. Two of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can trounce the broader indices by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Equally as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of motivations for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a look at the latest action regarding Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM).

How are hedge funds trading Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM)?

At year’s end, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -30% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, OrbiMed Advisors, managed by Samuel Isaly, holds the most valuable position in Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM). OrbiMed Advisors has a $19.6 million position in the stock, comprising 0.6% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Bluefin Investment Management, managed by Scott Burney, which held a $5.2 million position; the fund has 2.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management, SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Seeing as Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM) has experienced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of money managers that slashed their entire stakes at the end of the year. Interestingly, Mark Broach’s Manatuck Hill Partners dumped the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, worth about $6 million in stock.. Christopher Medlock James’s fund, Partner Fund Management, also dropped its stock, about $3.9 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds at the end of the year.

How have insiders been trading Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time frame, Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM) has experienced 2 unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM). These stocks are FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO), Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX), Measurement Specialties, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEAS), Rudolph Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:RTEC), and Landauer, Inc. (NYSE:LDR). This group of stocks belong to the scientific & technical instruments industry and their market caps match FLDM’s market cap.

With the results shown by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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