Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Trimble Navigation Limited (TRMB)

Trimble Navigation Limited (NASDAQ:TRMB) has seen an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately.

According to most shareholders, hedge funds are perceived as unimportant, outdated investment vehicles of years past. While there are over 8000 funds trading today, we look at the leaders of this club, close to 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group controls the majority of the smart money’s total asset base, and by watching their top picks, we have figured out a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat 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 outclassed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Just as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of reasons for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a look at the recent action regarding Trimble Navigation Limited (NASDAQ:TRMB).

How have hedgies been trading Trimble Navigation Limited (NASDAQ:TRMB)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 17% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.

Of the funds we track, Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, holds the most valuable position in Trimble Navigation Limited (NASDAQ:TRMB). Columbus Circle Investors has a $37.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. On Columbus Circle Investors’s heels is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $22.8 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds with similar optimism include Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management, Jeffrey Vinik’s Vinik Asset Management and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, initiated the most outsized position in Trimble Navigation Limited (NASDAQ:TRMB). Renaissance Technologies had 22.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management also made a $6.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new TRMB positions are Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, Van Schreiber’s Bennett Lawrence Management, and Curtis Macnguyen’s Ivory Capital (Investment Mgmt).

How are insiders trading Trimble Navigation Limited (NASDAQ:TRMB)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Trimble Navigation Limited (NASDAQ:TRMB) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Trimble Navigation Limited (NASDAQ:TRMB). These stocks are Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO), Compagnie Generale de Gephysqu Vrts SA (NYSE:CGG), Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (NYSE:ST), Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN), and Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT). This group of stocks belong to the scientific & technical instruments industry and their market caps resemble TRMB’s market cap.