Is Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ:ARAY) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds? – Natus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:BABY), PhotoMedex Inc (NASDAQ:PHMD)

Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ:ARAY) was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. ARAY investors should be aware of a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately. There were 13 hedge funds in our database with ARAY holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are assumed to be worthless, outdated investment vehicles of years past. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation at the moment, we look at the bigwigs of this group, around 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group controls the majority of the smart money’s total capital, and by watching their highest performing stock picks, we have deciphered a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually 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 topped the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (see all of our picks from August).

Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are many stimuli for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a look at the recent action surrounding Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ:ARAY).

What have hedge funds been doing with Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ:ARAY)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.

Of the funds we track, John Burbank’s Passport Capital had the largest position in Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ:ARAY), worth close to $26 million, comprising 1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Adage Capital Management, managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, which held a $12 million position; the fund has 0% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers with similar optimism include Jerome Pfund and Michael Sjostrom’s Sectoral Asset Management, James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management and SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors.

Since Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ:ARAY) has experienced bearish sentiment from the smart money, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of hedge funds that elected to cut their positions entirely in Q4. Intriguingly, Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management dumped the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, comprising about $4 million in stock.. JΘr⌠me Pfund and Michael Sj÷str÷m’s fund, Sectoral Asset Management, also dumped its stock, about $4 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ:ARAY)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time period, Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ:ARAY) has seen 2 unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ:ARAY). These stocks are GenMark Diagnostics, Inc (NASDAQ:GNMK), Natus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:BABY), Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEAMEX:NAVB), Syneron Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ:ELOS), and PhotoMedex Inc (NASDAQ:PHMD). This group of stocks are the members of the medical appliances & equipment industry and their market caps are closest to ARAY’s market cap.

With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Accuray Incorporated (NASDAQ:ARAY) applies perfectly to this mantra.