The latest 13F reporting period has come and gone, and Insider Monkey is again at the forefront when it comes to making use of this gold mine of data. We have processed the filings of the more than 700 world-class investment firms that we track and now have access to the collective wisdom contained in these filings, which are based on their September 30 holdings, data that is available nowhere else. Should you consider ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) for your portfolio? We’ll look to this invaluable collective wisdom for the answer.
ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) investors should pay attention to a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. VSAT was in 12 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with VSAT positions at the end of the previous quarter. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity, but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE), Inovalon Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:INOV), and Royal Gold, Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:RGLD) to gather more data points.
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At the moment there are a multitude of formulas investors employ to assess publicly traded companies. A couple of the most useful formulas are hedge fund and insider trading signals. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see the details here).
Now, we’re going to go over the recent action encompassing ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT).
How have hedgies been trading ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of -14% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Baupost Group, managed by Seth Klarman, holds the biggest position in ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT). Baupost Group has an $741.5 million position in the stock, comprising 12.4% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is FPR Partners, led by Bob Peck and Andy Raab, holding an $338.8 million position; 8.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other members of the smart money that are bullish contain Mason Hawkins’ Southeastern Asset Management, Bain Capital’s Brookside Capital and Jeffrey Bronchick’s Cove Street Capital.
Judging by the fact that ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) has faced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there exists a select few hedgies that slashed their positions entirely last quarter. Intriguingly, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors cut the largest position of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, worth an estimated $5.6 million in stock, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $5.4 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds last quarter.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT). These stocks are Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE), Inovalon Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:INOV), Royal Gold, Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:RGLD), and WuXi PharmaTech (Cayman) Inc. (ADR) (NYSE:WX). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble VSAT’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| HE | 10 | 44851 | 4 |
| INOV | 6 | 32465 | -1 |
| RGLD | 25 | 354082 | 7 |
| WX | 22 | 440835 | 1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $218 million. That figure was $1.55 billion in VSAT’s case. Royal Gold, Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:RGLD) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Inovalon Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:INOV) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. ViaSat, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard RGLD might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
