Is Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR) the right pick for your portfolio? Prominent investors are reducing their bets on the stock. The number of long hedge fund positions were trimmed by 1 in recent months.
In today’s marketplace, there are many methods shareholders can use to monitor the equity markets. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a superb amount (see just how much).
Equally as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of reasons for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a peek at the key action surrounding Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR).
What does the smart money think about Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 28 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -3% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Debra Fine’s Fine Capital Partners had the most valuable position in Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR), worth close to $89 million, comprising 9% of its total 13F portfolio. On Fine Capital Partners’s heels is Marathon Partners, managed by Mario Cibelli, which held a $51 million position; 0.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Wallace Weitz’s Wallace R. Weitz & Co. and John C. Walker’s Stonerise Capital Management.
Seeing as Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR) has faced falling interest from the smart money, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of funds that elected to cut their positions entirely at the end of the year. At the top of the heap, John Thaler’s JAT Capital Management cut the largest position of all the hedgies we key on, comprising close to $29 million in stock., and Frank LaGrange Johnson of LaGrange Capital was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $8 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds at the end of the year.
How have insiders been trading Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results shown by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Coinstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSTR) is no exception.
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