We at Insider Monkey have gone over 821 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the SEC The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of March 31st, near the height of the coronavirus market crash. In this article, we look at what those funds think of Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKTS) based on that data.
Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKTS) investors should be aware of a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months. Our calculations also showed that AKTS isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q1 rankings and see the video for a quick look at the top 5 stocks).
Video: Watch our video about the top 5 most popular hedge fund stocks.
Hedge funds’ reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn’t keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Our research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 44 percentage points since March 2017 (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that’ll significantly underperform the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 36% through May 18th. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
William Graves of Boardman Bay Capital
At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example, legendary investor Bill Miller told investors to sell 7 extremely popular recession stocks last month. So, we went through his list and recommended another stock with 100% upside potential instead. We interview hedge fund managers and ask them about their best ideas. You can watch our latest hedge fund manager interview here and find out the name of the large-cap healthcare stock that Sio Capital’s Michael Castor expects to double. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. Our best call in 2020 was shorting the market when S&P 500 was trading at 3150 after realizing the coronavirus pandemic’s significance before most investors. Keeping this in mind let’s take a glance at the recent hedge fund action surrounding Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKTS).
What does smart money think about Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKTS)?
Heading into the second quarter of 2020, a total of 3 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -50% from one quarter earlier. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in AKTS over the last 18 quarters. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
The largest stake in Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKTS) was held by North Run Capital, which reported holding $2.7 million worth of stock at the end of September. It was followed by Rima Senvest Management with a $2.6 million position. The only other hedge fund that is bullish on the company was Boardman Bay Capital Management.
Seeing as Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKTS) has experienced falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there were a few hedge funds that slashed their full holdings heading into Q4. At the top of the heap, Warren Lammert’s Granite Point Capital sold off the biggest investment of the 750 funds watched by Insider Monkey, comprising an estimated $0.6 million in stock. Israel Englander’s fund, Millennium Management, also sold off its stock, about $0.2 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds heading into Q4.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKTS) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Protective Insurance Corporation (NASDAQ:PTVCB), Contango Oil & Gas Company (NYSE:MCF), and Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE:UTI). All of these stocks’ market caps are closest to AKTS’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| GCI | 13 | 30106 | -9 |
| PTVCB | 5 | 12042 | -3 |
| MCF | 6 | 4195 | -2 |
| UTI | 15 | 52223 | 4 |
| Average | 9.75 | 24642 | -2.5 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 9.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $25 million. That figure was $8 million in AKTS’s case. Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE:UTI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Protective Insurance Corporation (NASDAQ:PTVCB) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKTS) is even less popular than PTVCB. Hedge funds clearly dropped the ball on AKTS as the stock delivered strong returns, though hedge funds’ consensus picks still generated respectable returns. Our calculations showed that top 10 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 41.4% in 2019 and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 10.1 percentage points. These stocks gained 7.9% in 2020 through May 22nd and still beat the market by 15.6 percentage points. A small number of hedge funds were also right about betting on AKTS as the stock returned 53.1% so far in the second quarter and outperformed the market by an even larger margin.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
