The 700+ hedge funds and money managers tracked by Insider Monkey have already compiled and submitted their 13F filings for the third quarter, which unveil their equity positions as of September 30th. We went through these filings and identified the changes in hedge fund positions collectively. Our extensive review of these public filings is finally over, so this article is set to reveal the latest smart money sentiment towards Marlin Business Services Corp. (NASDAQ:MRLN).
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Marlin Business Services Corp. (NASDAQ:MRLN) was in seven hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. Marlin Business has seen an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late. There were five hedge funds in our database with Marlin Business Services Corp. (NASDAQ:MRLN) positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article, we will also compare Marlin Business Services Corp. (NASDAQ:MRLN) to other stocks including Global Sources Ltd. (Bermuda) (NASDAQ:GSOL), Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CYNA), and Senomyx Inc. (NASDAQ:SNMX) to get a better sense of its popularity.
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In the 21st century investor’s toolkit there are a lot of formulas stock market investors use to assess publicly traded companies. Some of the less known formulas are hedge fund and insider trading signals. Experts at hedge fund tracking site Insider Monkey have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a healthy amount (see the details here).
Now, we’re going to analyze the recent action regarding Marlin Business Services Corp. (NASDAQ:MRLN).
What does the smart money think about Marlin Business Services Corp. (NASDAQ:MRLN)?
At the end of Q3, a total of seven of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, an increase of 40% from the second quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Willem Mesdag’s Red Mountain Capital has the largest position in Marlin Business Services Corp. (NASDAQ:MRLN), worth close to $45.8 million, amounting to 12.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second-largest stake is held by Consector Capital, managed by William Black, which held a $2.4 million position; 2.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other members of the smart money that hold long positions comprise Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Harvest Capital Strategies, managed by Joseph A. Jolson, established the biggest position in Marlin Business Services Corp. (NASDAQ:MRLN). Harvest Capital Strategies had $1.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Millennium Management also made a $0.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new Marlin position is Chuck Royce’s mutual fund Royce & Associates.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Marlin Business Services Corp. (NASDAQ:MRLN). We will take a look at Global Sources Ltd. (Bermuda) (NASDAQ:GSOL), Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CYNA), Senomyx Inc. (NASDAQ:SNMX), and CRA International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRAI). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to Marlin Business Services Corp. (NASDAQ:MRLN)’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| GSOL | 5 | 6525 | -4 |
| CYNA | 12 | 63483 | 0 |
| SNMX | 6 | 29510 | -1 |
| CRAI | 13 | 29106 | 1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 9 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $32 million, while over $51 million in capital was invested in the shares of Marlin Business Services, amounting to 26.20% of its shares. CRA International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRAI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Global Sources Ltd. (Bermuda) (NASDAQ:GSOL) is the least popular one with only five bullish hedge fund positions. Marlin Business Services Corp. (NASDAQ:MRLN) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. Nonetheless, because of growing interest and the high percentage of shares of the company that are owned by top investors, this could be a good under-the-radar stock to look into further.
