Is DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH) undervalued? Money managers are selling. The number of bullish hedge fund bets fell by 1 in recent months.
According to most market participants, hedge funds are assumed to be slow, old investment vehicles of years past. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation at the moment, we choose to focus on the masters of this group, close to 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of the smart money’s total asset base, and by tracking their best investments, we have found a few investment strategies that have historically outpaced Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see the details here).
Just as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of incentives for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a look at the recent action regarding DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH).
Hedge fund activity in DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH)
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 39 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -3% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Highbridge Capital Management, managed by Glenn Russell Dubin, holds the largest position in DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH). Highbridge Capital Management has a $255.9 million position in the stock, comprising 3% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Kenneth Mario Garschina of Mason Capital Management, with a $232.1 million position; the fund has 5.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, and Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors.
Since DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH) has faced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of hedge funds that slashed their full holdings last quarter. Interestingly, Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management dropped the biggest position of the 450+ funds we monitor, comprising an estimated $60.1 million in stock., and Josh Resnick of Jericho Capital Asset Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $25.1 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds last quarter.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 11 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH). These stocks are Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), Shaw Communications Inc (USA) (NYSE:SJR), Virgin Media Inc. (NASDAQ:VMED), Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:DISCA), and Liberty Global Inc. (NASDAQ:LBTYA). This group of stocks belong to the catv systems industry and their market caps match DISH’s market cap.
