The government requires hedge funds and wealthy investors with over a certain portfolio size to file a report that shows their positions at the end of every quarter. Even though it isn’t the intention, these filings level the playing field for ordinary investors. The latest round of 13F filings disclosed the funds’ positions on September 30. We at Insider Monkey have made an extensive database of more than 700 of those elite funds and prominent investors’ filings. In this article, we analyze how these elite funds and prominent investors traded Natus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:BABY) based on those filings.
Natus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:BABY) has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest lately. BABY was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 15 hedge funds in our database with BABY holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that baby isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the eyes of most market participants, hedge funds are assumed to be underperforming, outdated financial tools of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8,000 funds with their doors open at present, We choose to focus on the leaders of this group, approximately 700 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group of people administer bulk of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by shadowing their best stock picks, Insider Monkey has discovered a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey’s flagship hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 6 percentage points per annum since its inception in May 2014 through early November 2018. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 24% since February 2017 (through December 3rd) even though the market was up nearly 23% during the same period. We just shared a list of 11 short targets in our latest quarterly update.
We’re going to take a look at the recent hedge fund action regarding Natus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:BABY).
How are hedge funds trading Natus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:BABY)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 19 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 27% from the previous quarter. By comparison, 18 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in BABY heading into this year. So, let’s see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in Natus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:BABY) was held by Impax Asset Management, which reported holding $27.3 million worth of stock at the end of September. It was followed by Fisher Asset Management with a $20.5 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Voce Capital, Diamond Hill Capital, and Rutabaga Capital Management.
As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Impax Asset Management, managed by Ian Simm, initiated the largest position in Natus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:BABY). Impax Asset Management had $27.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Peter Schliemann’s Rutabaga Capital Management also made a $9.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new BABY investors: Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Natus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:BABY). These stocks are Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd (NYSE:OR), SecureWorks Corp. (NASDAQ:SCWX), Boulder Growth & Income Fund, Inc. (NYSE:BIF), and ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE:ACCO). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to BABY’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| OR | 10 | 18157 | 4 |
| SCWX | 8 | 32331 | 2 |
| BIF | 4 | 7593 | -2 |
| ACCO | 21 | 49160 | 4 |
| Average | 10.75 | 26810 | 2 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 10.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $27 million. That figure was $113 million in BABY’s case. ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE:ACCO) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Boulder Growth & Income Fund, Inc. (NYSE:BIF) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Natus Medical Inc (NASDAQ:BABY) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard ACCO might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
