Here is What Hedge Funds Think About CARBO Ceramics Inc. (CRR)

CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR) was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. CRR shareholders have witnessed a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately. There were 13 hedge funds in our database with CRR positions at the end of the previous quarter.

To the average investor, there are dozens of gauges market participants can use to monitor the equity markets. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outpace the market by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of incentives for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a peek at the key action surrounding CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR).

Hedge fund activity in CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR)

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the biggest position in CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR), worth close to $52.6 million, comprising 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which held a $36 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Jeffrey Vinik’s Vinik Asset Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Tom Gayner’s Markel Gayner Asset Management.

Seeing as CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR) has experienced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that slashed their full holdings last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Andrew Feldstein and Stephen Siderow’s Blue Mountain Capital dropped the biggest stake of the 450+ funds we monitor, totaling an estimated $2.5 million in stock.. Anthony Giammalva’s fund, Sound Energy Partners, also sold off its stock, about $0.8 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

How are insiders trading CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR) has seen 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR). These stocks are Precision Drilling Corp (USA) (NYSE:PDS), Exterran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EXH), Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. (NYSE:HLX), Lufkin Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUFK), and Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (NASDAQ:EXXI). This group of stocks are in the oil & gas equipment & services industry and their market caps resemble CRR’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by our studies, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and CARBO Ceramics Inc. (NYSE:CRR) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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