Should You Buy AEGON N.V. (ADR) (AEG)?

Is AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG) a cheap investment now? Money managers are taking an optimistic view. The number of long hedge fund bets inched up by 3 in recent months.

According to most shareholders, hedge funds are seen as slow, outdated investment tools of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation at the moment, we look at the bigwigs of this club, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group controls the lion’s share of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by keeping an eye on their top picks, we have spotted a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Equally as integral, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are a number of motivations for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a gander at the key action surrounding AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG).

Hedge fund activity in AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG)

At year’s end, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 75% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, holds the biggest position in AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG). Arrowstreet Capital has a $17.7 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On Arrowstreet Capital’s heels is Shah Capital Management, managed by Himanshu H. Shah, which held a $2.7 million position; the fund has 2.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.

Consequently, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Two Sigma Advisors, managed by John Overdeck and David Siegel, assembled the biggest position in AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG). Two Sigma Advisors had 1.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors also initiated a $0.4 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new AEG positions are Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

How are insiders trading AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG)?

Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time frame, AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG) 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 AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG). These stocks are Prudential Financial Inc (NYSE:PRU), Manulife Financial Corporation (USA) (NYSE:MFC), Torchmark Corporation (NYSE:TMK), Sun Life Financial Inc. (USA) (NYSE:SLF), and Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC). This group of stocks belong to the life insurance industry and their market caps resemble AEG’s market cap.

With the results shown by our research, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and AEGON N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:AEG) is no exception.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds