Is Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE:ATK) going to take off soon? Hedge funds are becoming less confident. The number of bullish hedge fund positions were cut by 5 recently.
In the financial world, there are tons of indicators market participants can use to track Mr. Market. Two of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a solid margin (see just how much).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a peek at the latest action encompassing Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE:ATK).
How have hedgies been trading Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE:ATK)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -23% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.
When looking at the hedgies we track, First Eagle Investment Management, managed by Jean-Marie Eveillard, holds the most valuable position in Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE:ATK). First Eagle Investment Management has a $377.3 million position in the stock, comprising 1.3% of its 13F portfolio. On First Eagle Investment Management’s heels is Iridian Asset Management, managed by David Cohen and Harold Levy, which held a $104.2 million position; the fund has 1.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s First Pacific Advisors LLC.
Seeing as Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE:ATK) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few fund managers that elected to cut their positions entirely at the end of the first quarter. Intriguingly, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management said goodbye to the largest investment of all the hedgies we monitor, worth an estimated $2.6 million in stock., and Glenn Russell Dubin of Highbridge Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $1.7 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 5 funds at the end of the first quarter.
Insider trading activity in Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE:ATK)
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time period, Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE:ATK) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s tactics, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Alliant Techsystems Inc. (NYSE:ATK) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
