Qiagen NV (QGEN): Insiders Aren’t Crazy About It

Qiagen NV (NASDAQ:QGEN) shareholders have witnessed an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently.

According to most shareholders, hedge funds are assumed to be slow, outdated investment vehicles of the past. While there are over 8000 funds trading at present, we look at the moguls of this group, around 450 funds. It is estimated that this group oversees the lion’s share of the smart money’s total asset base, and by tracking their highest performing picks, we have formulated a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see the details here).

Equally as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of incentives for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, let’s take a gander at the key action encompassing Qiagen NV (NASDAQ:QGEN).

Hedge fund activity in Qiagen NV (NASDAQ:QGEN)

Heading into Q2, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 63% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, Platinum Asset Management, managed by Kerr Neilson, holds the largest position in Qiagen NV (NASDAQ:QGEN). Platinum Asset Management has a $49.7 million position in the stock, comprising 1.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Donald Chiboucis of Columbus Circle Investors, with a $22.6 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Noam Gottesman’s GLG Partners, SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

Now, key money managers have jumped into Qiagen NV (NASDAQ:QGEN) headfirst. CR Intrinsic Investors, managed by SAC Subsidiary, created the largest position in Qiagen NV (NASDAQ:QGEN). CR Intrinsic Investors had 8.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $5.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new QGEN positions are Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

What have insiders been doing with Qiagen NV (NASDAQ:QGEN)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Qiagen NV (NASDAQ:QGEN) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results demonstrated by our time-tested strategies, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Qiagen NV (NASDAQ:QGEN) applies perfectly to this mantra.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds