In today’s marketplace, there are plenty of metrics investors can use to track the equity markets. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of motivations for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action encompassing IAMGOLD Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IAG).
What does the smart money think about IAMGOLD Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IAG)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.
According to our comprehensive database, First Eagle Investment Management, managed by Jean-Marie Eveillard, holds the biggest position in IAMGOLD Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IAG). First Eagle Investment Management has a $79 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by John Paulson of Paulson & Co, with a $45 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Charles de Vaulx’s International Value Advisers, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Eric Sprott’s Sprott Asset Management.
Since IAMGOLD Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IAG) has witnessed declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there was a specific group of fund managers that elected to cut their full holdings in Q4. It’s worth mentioning that Michael Hintze’s CQS Cayman LP dropped the largest stake of the 450+ funds we watch, comprising an estimated $4 million in stock.. Cliff Asness’s fund, AQR Capital Management, also sold off its stock, about $0 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
What have insiders been doing with IAMGOLD Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IAG)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, IAMGOLD Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IAG) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results exhibited by our tactics, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and IAMGOLD Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IAG) is an important part of this process.
Click here to learn more about Insider Monkey’s Hedge Fund Newsletter
Insider Monkey’s small-cap strategy returned 29.2% between September 2012 and February 2013 versus 8.7% for the S&P 500 index. Try it now by clicking the link above.
