Is Panasonic Corporation (ADR) (PC) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Is Panasonic Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:PC) a good investment right now? Hedge funds are getting more optimistic. The number of bullish hedge fund positions advanced by 4 in recent months.

In the financial world, there are a multitude of methods market participants can use to analyze Mr. Market. Some of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of reasons for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a glance at the latest action surrounding Panasonic Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:PC).

Hedge fund activity in Panasonic Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:PC)

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 80% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.

According to our comprehensive database, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the most valuable position in Panasonic Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:PC), worth close to $9.1 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Israel Englander of Millennium Management, with a $3 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, John Thiessen’s Vertex One Asset Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Now, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Vertex One Asset Management, managed by John Thiessen, established the most outsized position in Panasonic Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:PC). Vertex One Asset Management had 1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors also made a $0.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new PC positions are Charles Davidson’s Wexford Capital, Mike Vranos’s Ellington, and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.

What have insiders been doing with Panasonic Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:PC)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, Panasonic Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:PC) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Panasonic Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:PC). These stocks are Universal Electronics Inc (NASDAQ:UEIC), Fabrinet (NYSE:FN), Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB), Harman International Industries Inc./DE/ (NYSE:HAR), and Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE). This group of stocks belong to the electronic equipment industry and their market caps are closest to PC’s market cap.