FMC Corp (NYSE:FMC) was in 18 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. FMC has experienced an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately. There were 17 hedge funds in our database with FMC positions at the end of the previous quarter.
According to most investors, hedge funds are seen as slow, old financial vehicles of years past. While there are over 8000 funds trading at present, we choose to focus on the masters of this group, around 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group controls the lion’s share of the smart money’s total asset base, and by keeping an eye on their highest performing picks, we have uncovered a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (see the details here).
Just as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the world of equities. Obviously, there are many reasons for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action regarding FMC Corp (NYSE:FMC).
Hedge fund activity in FMC Corp (NYSE:FMC)
In preparation for this year, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 6% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, David Cohen and Harold Levy’s Iridian Asset Management had the largest position in FMC Corp (NYSE:FMC), worth close to $100 million, accounting for 1.7% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Jean-Marie Eveillard of First Eagle Investment Management, with a $39 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include Martin D. Sass’s MD Sass, Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management and Amy Minella’s Cardinal Capital.
As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, initiated the most outsized position in FMC Corp (NYSE:FMC). Renaissance Technologies had 19 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors also made a $4 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
What have insiders been doing with FMC Corp (NYSE:FMC)?
Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, FMC Corp (NYSE:FMC) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s tactics, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and FMC Corp (NYSE:FMC) is no exception.
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Insider Monkey’s small-cap strategy returned 29.2% between September 2012 and February 2013 versus 8.7% for the S&P 500 index. Try it now by clicking the link above.
