NYSE Euronext (NYX): Hedge Funds Are Bearish and Insiders Are Undecided, What Should You Do?

Is NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) worth buying? These indicators can help you figure that out.

In today’s marketplace, there are many methods shareholders can use to track publicly traded companies. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as crucial, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of reasons for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if you understand where to look (learn more here).

Now that that’s out of the way, we’re going to analyze the latest info surrounding NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX).

How have hedgies been trading NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX)?

Heading into Q3, a total of 34 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -3% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.

According to our 13F database, Robert Emil Zoellner’s Alpine Associates had the largest position in NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX), worth close to $187.7 million, comprising 7.6% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisors, with a $170.7 million position; 2.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Frank Brosens’s Taconic Capital and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.

Judging by the fact that NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) has faced a fall in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there was a specific group of funds that slashed their entire stakes at the end of the second quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Kenneth Mario Garschina’s Mason Capital Management cut the biggest investment of all the hedgies we watch, worth close to $220.5 million in stock. Shane Finemore’s fund, Manikay Partners, also cut its stock, about $77.3 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds at the end of the second quarter.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX)?

Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX). These stocks are Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE:APO), CBOE Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ:CBOE), Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC), NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ), and IntercontinentalExchange Inc (NYSE:ICE). All of these stocks are in the diversified investments industry and their market caps resemble NYX’s market cap.