Is Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) a buy here? The smart money is becoming less confident. The number of bullish hedge fund bets were cut by 1 in recent months.
In today’s marketplace, there are many indicators shareholders can use to watch the equity markets. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a significant amount (see just how much).
Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the financial markets. Obviously, there are a number of incentives for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if you know what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a glance at the latest action surrounding Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL).
What does the smart money think about Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -17% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.
According to our comprehensive database, GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, holds the most valuable position in Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL). GAMCO Investors has a $14.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On GAMCO Investors’s heels is D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, which held a $2.2 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Mike Vranos’s Ellington.
Seeing as Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) has faced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers that slashed their entire stakes heading into Q2. Intriguingly, Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group dumped the biggest stake of all the hedgies we track, totaling an estimated $9.7 million in stock., and Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment Corp was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $5.1 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds heading into Q2.
What have insiders been doing with Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL)?
Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL). These stocks are AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAG), Neogen Corporation (NASDAQ:NEOG), Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ:SNTA), Abaxis Inc (NASDAQ:ABAX), and Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIVO). All of these stocks are in the diagnostic substances industry and their market caps resemble QDEL’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAG) | 10 | 0 | 2 |
| Neogen Corporation (NASDAQ:NEOG) | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ:SNTA) | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Abaxis Inc (NASDAQ:ABAX) | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIVO) | 9 | 2 | 5 |
With the results exhibited by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
