Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) shareholders have witnessed an increase in enthusiasm from smart money recently.
To most market participants, hedge funds are assumed to be slow, outdated investment tools of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading at present, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the top tier of this club, around 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of the smart money’s total asset base, and by paying attention to their top investments, we have unearthed 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 per 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 beaten the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (see the details here).
Just as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are plenty of incentives for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, it’s important to take a peek at the recent action surrounding Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL).
What does the smart money think about Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 50 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 6% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Southeastern Asset Management, managed by Mason Hawkins, holds the largest position in Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL). Southeastern Asset Management has a $1.251 billion position in the stock, comprising 5.5% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Donald Yacktman of Yacktman Asset Management, with a $151 million position; the fund has 0.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management, Charles de Vaulx’s International Value Advisers and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Now, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Yacktman Asset Management, managed by Donald Yacktman, initiated the most valuable position in Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL). Yacktman Asset Management had 151 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ryan Frick and Oliver Evans’s Dorsal Capital Management also initiated a $28 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are James Melcher’s Balestra, SAC Subsidiary’s Sigma Capital Management, and Michael Messner’s Seminole Capital (Investment Mgmt).
Insider trading activity in Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL)
Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned research, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
Click here to learn more about Insider Monkey’s Hedge Fund Newsletter
Insider Monkey’s small-cap strategy returned 29.2% between September 2012 and February 2013 versus 8.7% for the S&P 500 index. Try it now by clicking the link above.
