Medley Capital Corp (MCC): Hedge Funds and Insiders Are Bullish, What Should You Do? – Cowen Group, Inc. (COWN), Piper Jaffray Companies (PJC)

Medley Capital Corp (NYSE:MCC) investors should be aware of an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late.

At the moment, there are plenty of gauges investors can use to track their holdings. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can outpace the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to break down the financial markets. Obviously, there are many reasons for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a gander at the key action encompassing Medley Capital Corp (NYSE:MCC).

How are hedge funds trading Medley Capital Corp (NYSE:MCC)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 38% 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.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group had the biggest position in Medley Capital Corp (NYSE:MCC), worth close to $13 million, accounting for 0.6% of its total 13F portfolio. On Alyeska Investment Group’s heels is Clough Capital Partners, managed by Charles Clough, which held a $10 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management.

As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. McKinley Capital Management, managed by Robert B. Gillam, created the most valuable position in Medley Capital Corp (NYSE:MCC). McKinley Capital Management had 5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management also initiated a $1 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new MCC positions are Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Medley Capital Corp (NYSE:MCC)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time period, Medley Capital Corp (NYSE:MCC) has seen 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 Medley Capital Corp (NYSE:MCC). These stocks are Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services (NYSEAMEX:LTS), Cowen Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:COWN), Piper Jaffray Companies (NYSE:PJC), GFI Group Inc. (NYSE:GFIG), and FXCM Inc (NYSE:FXCM). All of these stocks are in the investment brokerage – national industry and their market caps resemble MCC’s market cap.

With the results exhibited by the aforementioned strategies, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Medley Capital Corp (NYSE:MCC) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds