United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. USM has experienced a decrease in hedge fund interest lately. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with USM positions at the end of the previous quarter.
At the moment, there are many indicators investors can use to watch Mr. Market. A pair of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can beat their index-focused peers by a significant amount (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of incentives for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the key action regarding United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM).
What does the smart money think about United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -11% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, holds the largest position in United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM). GAMCO Investors has a $131.5 million position in the stock, comprising 1% of its 13F portfolio. On GAMCO Investors’s heels is International Value Advisers, managed by Charles de Vaulx, which held a $19.1 million position; the fund has 0.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Seeing as United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) has faced a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few fund managers that elected to cut their entire stakes last quarter. Intriguingly, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital dumped the biggest investment of all the hedgies we watch, valued at close to $4.8 million in stock.. Israel Englander’s fund, Millennium Management, also said goodbye to its stock, about $0.7 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds last quarter.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE:USM). These stocks are Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ:CLWR), InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDCC), Portugal Telecom, SGPS (ADR) (NYSE:PT), Telephone & Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS), and MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS). This group of stocks belong to the wireless communications industry and their market caps resemble USM’s market cap.
