Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (ST)

Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE:ST) was in 32 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. ST has experienced a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months. There were 36 hedge funds in our database with ST holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

At the moment, there are plenty of metrics investors can use to watch the equity markets. A pair of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the marketplace. There are lots of incentives for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action encompassing Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE:ST).

Hedge fund activity in Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE:ST)

At Q1’s end, a total of 32 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -11% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, Scout Capital Management, managed by James Crichton and Adam Weiss, holds the largest position in Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE:ST). Scout Capital Management has a $263 million position in the stock, comprising 3.4% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Blue Ridge Capital, managed by John Griffin, which held a $258.9 million position; the fund has 3.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that hold long positions include Alan Fournier’s Pennant Capital Management, Bain Capital’s Brookside Capital and William B. Gray’s Orbis Investment Management.

Judging by the fact that Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE:ST) has experienced falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few money managers that slashed their positions entirely at the end of the first quarter. At the top of the heap, Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management sold off the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, valued at close to $125.7 million in stock.. John Lykouretzos’s fund, Hoplite Capital Management, also said goodbye to its stock, about $83.8 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds at the end of the first quarter.

How have insiders been trading Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE:ST)?

Insider buying is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE:ST) has seen zero unique insiders buying, 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 Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE:ST). These stocks are Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO), Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT), Trimble Navigation Limited (NASDAQ:TRMB), and Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN). All of these stocks are in the scientific & technical instruments industry and their market caps are similar to ST’s market cap.

With the returns shown by our studies, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE:ST) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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