Apple Inc. (AAPL), Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ): Is This Computer Hardware Company Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Agilysys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGYS) was in 5 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. AGYS investors should pay attention to a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months. There were 5 hedge funds in our database with AGYS holdings at the end of the previous quarter. We’ll also take note of the larger players in the computer hardware space: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ).

To most market participants, hedge funds are viewed as unimportant, old financial tools of the past. While there are more than 8000 funds trading today, we look at the top tier of this club, close to 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group oversees the lion’s share of the smart money’s total asset base, and by keeping an eye on their top equity investments, we have revealed a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the market, and Apple is a big part of this. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (explore the details and some picks here).

Just as important, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are plenty of reasons for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if you know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a look at the latest action surrounding Agilysys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGYS), Apple, and the rest of the key players in the computer hardware space.

What does the smart money think about Agilysys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGYS)?

At year’s end, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Michael Kaufman’s MAK Capital One had the biggest position in Agilysys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGYS), worth close to $59 million, comprising 12.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $3 million position; the fund has 0% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

How are insiders trading Agilysys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGYS)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Agilysys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGYS) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Agilysys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGYS). These stocks are Unwired Planet Inc (NASDAQ:UPIP), Market Leader Inc (NASDAQ:LEDR), QAD Inc. (NASDAQ:QADA), along with larger industry peers Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ). This group of stocks are the members of the application software industry and their market caps match AGYS’s market cap.

With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s tactics, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Agilysys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGYS) is no exception.

Related tickers: Agilysys, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGYS), Unwired Planet Inc (NASDAQ:UPIP), Market Leader Inc (NASDAQ:LEDR), QAD Inc. (NASDAQ:QADA), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ)