Inteliquent (IQNT): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Inteliquent (NASDAQ:IQNT) investors should be aware of a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money of late.

At the moment, there are plenty of methods investors can use to watch Mr. Market. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can beat the S&P 500 by a solid amount (see just how much).

Just as key, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the marketplace. Obviously, there are a variety of incentives for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a glance at the latest action regarding Inteliquent (NASDAQ:IQNT).

What have hedge funds been doing with Inteliquent (NASDAQ:IQNT)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -9% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the most valuable position in Inteliquent (NASDAQ:IQNT). Renaissance Technologies has a $2.8 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $1.7 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp.

Due to the fact that Inteliquent (NASDAQ:IQNT) has experienced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there was a specific group of fund managers that decided to sell off their positions entirely heading into 2013. It’s worth mentioning that Israel Englander’s Millennium Management said goodbye to the biggest position of all the hedgies we track, totaling an estimated $1.9 million in stock.. Mike Vranos’s fund, Ellington, also cut its stock, about $0.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds heading into 2013.

How are insiders trading Inteliquent (NASDAQ:IQNT)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time period, Inteliquent (NASDAQ:IQNT) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Inteliquent (NASDAQ:IQNT). These stocks are Anaren, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANEN), Telular Corporation (NASDAQ:WRLS), Meru Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:MERU), Linktone Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:LTON), and Globalstar, Inc. (PINK:GSAT). This group of stocks are in the wireless communications industry and their market caps match IQNT’s market cap.