Cardtronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CATM) was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. CATM has seen an increase in enthusiasm from smart money lately. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with CATM positions at the end of the previous quarter.
To the average investor, there are dozens of gauges market participants can use to analyze Mr. Market. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can beat the broader indices by a superb amount (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are plenty of motivations for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a gander at the latest action regarding Cardtronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CATM).
How have hedgies been trading Cardtronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CATM)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 56% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.
Of the funds we track, Valinor Management LLC, managed by David Gallo, holds the biggest position in Cardtronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CATM). Valinor Management LLC has a $51.4 million position in the stock, comprising 2.2% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which held a $6.6 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have jumped into Cardtronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CATM) headfirst. Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, created the largest position in Cardtronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CATM). Arrowstreet Capital had 2.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Steven Owsley’s Madison Street Partners also made a $0.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital, and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Cardtronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CATM)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time period, Cardtronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CATM) has seen 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Cardtronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CATM). These stocks are Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT), VistaPrint Limited (NASDAQ:VPRT), ABM Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ABM), Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. (NYSE:HPY), and Interval Leisure Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IILG). This group of stocks belong to the business services industry and their market caps are closest to CATM’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) | 15 | 0 | 5 |
| VistaPrint Limited (NASDAQ:VPRT) | 12 | 3 | 4 |
| ABM Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ABM) | 9 | 0 | 4 |
| Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. (NYSE:HPY) | 19 | 1 | 7 |
| Interval Leisure Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IILG) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
With the returns shown by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Cardtronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CATM) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
