Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Symantec Corporation (SYMC)

Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in hedge fund sentiment recently.

In the eyes of most market participants, hedge funds are viewed as unimportant, outdated investment vehicles of years past. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at the moment, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the moguls of this club, around 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group controls most of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by paying attention to their top investments, we have determined a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum 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 outclassed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Just as integral, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the world of equities. Obviously, there are plenty of reasons for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a glance at the latest action surrounding Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC).

What have hedge funds been doing with Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 29 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -6% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.

Of the funds we track, AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, holds the largest position in Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC). AQR Capital Management has a $109.6 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $105.4 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Peter Adam Hochfelder’s Brahman Capital and Peter Adam Hochfelder’s Brahman Capital.

Due to the fact that Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC) has faced declining sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of money managers that elected to cut their full holdings heading into Q2. It’s worth mentioning that Dan Loeb’s Third Point dropped the biggest position of all the hedgies we key on, valued at about $126.1 million in stock., and Charles de Vaulx of International Value Advisers was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $33.5 million worth. These moves are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds heading into Q2.

What have insiders been doing with Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC)?

Insider buying is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time period, Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC). These stocks are AsiaInfo-Linkage, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASIA), Mantech International Corp (NASDAQ:MANT), Brady Corp (NYSE:BRC), Sourcefire, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIRE), and Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP). All of these stocks are in the security software & services industry and their market caps match SYMC’s market cap.