Is Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB) a buy, sell, or hold? The smart money is taking a pessimistic view. The number of bullish hedge fund bets fell by 5 recently.
According to most investors, hedge funds are assumed to be slow, outdated financial tools of years past. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at the moment, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the top tier of this group, around 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group oversees most of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by paying attention to their top picks, we have come up with a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year 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 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).
Now, it’s important to take a peek at the recent action surrounding Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB).
How are hedge funds trading Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB)?
Heading into Q2, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -45% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the largest position in Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB), worth close to $1.6 million, accounting for less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Gotham Asset Management, managed by Joel Greenblatt, which held a $1.4 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Because Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB) has experienced falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there were a few money managers who sold off their full holdings at the end of the first quarter. Intriguingly, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management said goodbye to the biggest position of all the hedgies we monitor, valued at close to $5.4 million in stock., and Robert B. Gillam of McKinley Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $3.2 million worth. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 5 funds at the end of the first quarter.
How have insiders been trading Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time frame, Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Hibbett Sports, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIBB) applies perfectly to this mantra.
