IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) has experienced a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money recently.

In today’s marketplace, there are plenty of metrics shareholders can use to monitor Mr. Market. A pair of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can beat their index-focused peers by a solid margin (see just how much).

Just as important, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of motivations for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if you understand what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a gander at the key action regarding IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI).

How have hedgies been trading IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 22 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -12% from the third quarter. 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, Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, holds the biggest position in IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI). Columbus Circle Investors has a $93 million position in the stock, comprising 0.7% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $62 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Amy Minella’s Cardinal Capital and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Since IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) has faced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there exists a select few funds that decided to sell off their full holdings at the end of the year. At the top of the heap, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management sold off the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we track, worth about $15 million in stock., and James Pallotta of Raptor Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds at the end of the year.

Insider trading activity in IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned strategies, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI) is no exception.

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