Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (QIHU): Watch This Data

Is Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (NYSE:QIHU) a buy, sell, or hold? Hedge funds are becoming less hopeful. The number of bullish hedge fund bets shrunk by 4 in recent months.

In today’s marketplace, there are tons of indicators shareholders can use to track publicly traded companies. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Equally as integral, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of incentives for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action regarding Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (NYSE:QIHU).

What does the smart money think about Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (NYSE:QIHU)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -20% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Emerging Sovereign Group, managed by J Kevin Kenny Jr, holds the largest position in Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (NYSE:QIHU). Emerging Sovereign Group has a $38 million position in the stock, comprising 3.9% of its 13F portfolio. On Emerging Sovereign Group’s heels is Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group, with a $28.2 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management, Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors and SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors.

Since Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (NYSE:QIHU) has witnessed declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of funds that decided to sell off their positions entirely in Q4. At the top of the heap, John Thaler’s JAT Capital Management dropped the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, totaling about $19.9 million in stock., and Richard Schimel of Diamondback Capital was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $10.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds in Q4.

Insider trading activity in Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (NYSE:QIHU)

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (NYSE:QIHU) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (NYSE:QIHU). These stocks are Sify Technologies Limited (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIFY), Trulia Inc (NYSE:TRLA), Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:IIJI), , and Vipshop Holdings Ltd – ADR (NYSE:VIPS). All of these stocks are in the internet service providers industry and their market caps are closest to QIHU’s market cap.

With the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s research, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (NYSE:QIHU) is an important part of this process.

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