Will you buy Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)?
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many metrics investors can use to track stocks. A pair of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can beat the broader indices by a significant amount (see just how much).
Equally as necessary, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are many reasons for a corporate insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors understand what to do (learn more here).
What’s more, it’s important to discuss the latest info surrounding Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT).
How have hedgies been trading Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)?
In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 31 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 35% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, Natixis Global Asset Management’s Harris Associates had the most valuable position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), worth close to $1.0672 billion, accounting for 2.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Third Avenue Management, managed by Martin Whitman, which held a $132.1 million position; the fund has 2.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Sandy Nairn’s Edinburgh Partners, Panayotis Takis Sparaggis’s Alkeon Capital Management and Curtis Macnguyen’s Ivory Capital (Investment Mgmt).
As one would understandably expect, particular hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Third Avenue Management, managed by Martin Whitman, assembled the largest position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT). Third Avenue Management had 132.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Sandy Nairn’s Edinburgh Partners also made a $126.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Panayotis Takis Sparaggis’s Alkeon Capital Management, Curtis Macnguyen’s Ivory Capital (Investment Mgmt), and Daniel Bubis’s Tetrem Capital Management.
What have insiders been doing with Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)?
Insider buying made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT). These stocks are Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ADR) (NYSE:ASX), Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE), Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX), KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC), and ASML Holding N.V. (ADR) (NASDAQ:ASML). This group of stocks are the members of the semiconductor equipment & materials industry and their market caps resemble AMAT’s market cap.
