Is Higher One Holdings, Inc (NYSE:ONE) the right pick for your portfolio? Money managers are in a bullish mood. The number of bullish hedge fund bets rose by 5 recently.
At the moment, there are dozens of gauges shareholders can use to watch the equity markets. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best investment managers can outpace the market by a healthy amount (see just how much).
Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of motivations for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a look at the latest action surrounding Higher One Holdings, Inc (NYSE:ONE).
Hedge fund activity in Higher One Holdings, Inc (NYSE:ONE)
Heading into 2013, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 167% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly.
According to our comprehensive database, Glenn Greenberg’s Brave Warrior Capital had the most valuable position in Higher One Holdings, Inc (NYSE:ONE), worth close to $72.6 million, accounting for 4.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Vinit Bodas of Deccan Value Advisors, with a $26.4 million position; 12.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers with similar optimism include Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and Quincy Lee’s Ancient Art (Teton Capital).
Consequently, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Gotham Asset Management, managed by Joel Greenblatt, initiated the most valuable position in Higher One Holdings, Inc (NYSE:ONE). Gotham Asset Management had 1.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates also made a $1.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Quincy Lee’s Ancient Art (Teton Capital), Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
What have insiders been doing with Higher One Holdings, Inc (NYSE:ONE)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, Higher One Holdings, Inc (NYSE:ONE) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Higher One Holdings, Inc (NYSE:ONE). These stocks are Cass Information Systems (NASDAQ:CASS), ICG Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ICGE), Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:FURX), Consolidated Graphics, Inc. (NYSE:CGX), and Multi-Color Corporation (NASDAQ:LABL). This group of stocks belong to the business services industry and their market caps resemble ONE’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Cass Information Systems (NASDAQ:CASS) | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| ICG Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ICGE) | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:FURX) | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Consolidated Graphics, Inc. (NYSE:CGX) | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Multi-Color Corporation (NASDAQ:LABL) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
With the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s tactics, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Higher One Holdings, Inc (NYSE:ONE) applies perfectly to this mantra.
