Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. Z investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund interest recently. There were 18 hedge funds in our database with Z holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of indicators market participants can use to watch Mr. Market. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can trounce the market by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Equally as important, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of reasons for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a peek at the recent action surrounding Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z).
How have hedgies been trading Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -44% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the biggest position in Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z), worth close to $40.7 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Citadel Investment Group’s heels is Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro of PAR Capital Management, with a $22.6 million position; 1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers with similar optimism include David Gallo’s Valinor Management LLC, and Chase Coleman and Feroz Dewan’s Tiger Global Management LLC.
Judging by the fact that Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) has experienced bearish sentiment from the smart money, we can see that there is a sect of funds who were dropping their entire stakes in Q4. At the top of the heap, Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors sold off the largest investment of all the hedgies we track, comprising close to $34.9 million in stock., and SAC Subsidiary of Sigma Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $23.5 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell by 8 funds in Q4.
How have insiders been trading Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time frame, Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z). These stocks are Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA), Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO), Deluxe Corporation (NYSE:DLX), Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG), and The Advisory Board Company (NASDAQ:ABCO). All of these stocks are in the business services industry and their market caps are closest to Z’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA) | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) | 11 | 0 | 7 |
| Deluxe Corporation (NYSE:DLX) | 8 | 0 | 6 |
| Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| The Advisory Board Company (NASDAQ:ABCO) | 9 | 0 | 9 |
With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned research, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) applies perfectly to this mantra.
