According to most shareholders, hedge funds are seen as slow, old investment vehicles of the past. While there are over 8000 funds in operation at present, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the leaders of this club, about 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group controls most of the smart money’s total capital, and by keeping an eye on their highest performing equity investments, we have unearthed a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year 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 24 percentage points in 7 months (explore the details and some picks here).
Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are a number of reasons for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a gander at the key action surrounding Intevac, Inc. (NASDAQ:IVAC).
What does the smart money think about Intevac, Inc. (NASDAQ:IVAC)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 40% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially.
Consequently, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. LMR Partners, managed by Ben Levine, Andrew Manuel and Stefan Renold, created the most valuable position in Intevac, Inc. (NASDAQ:IVAC). LMR Partners had 0.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Charles Davidson’s Wexford Capital also made a $0.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
Insider trading activity in Intevac, Inc. (NASDAQ:IVAC)
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Intevac, Inc. (NASDAQ:IVAC) has seen 4 unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Intevac, Inc. (NASDAQ:IVAC). These stocks are SL Industries, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:SLI), Maxwell Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:MXWL), American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:AMSC), Jinpan International Limited (NASDAQ:JST), and Sparton Corporation (NYSE:SPA). This group of stocks are the members of the diversified electronics industry and their market caps are closest to IVAC’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| SL Industries, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:SLI) | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Maxwell Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:MXWL) | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:AMSC) | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Jinpan International Limited (NASDAQ:JST) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Sparton Corporation (NYSE:SPA) | 4 | 3 | 1 |
With the results exhibited by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Intevac, Inc. (NASDAQ:IVAC) is an important part of this process.
