Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM) shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund interest lately.
At the moment, there are many gauges investors can use to track publicly traded companies. Two of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can beat the S&P 500 by a healthy amount (see just how much).
Equally as important, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of reasons for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, it’s important to take a glance at the key action regarding Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM).
How have hedgies been trading Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 150% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.
According to our comprehensive database, SAC Capital Advisors, managed by Steven Cohen, holds the most valuable position in Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM). SAC Capital Advisors has a $11.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is BlueCrest Capital Mgmt., managed by Michael Platt and William Reeves, which held a $2.2 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, John Burbank’s Passport Capital and Andrew R. Midler’s Savitr Capital.
Consequently, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, assembled the largest position in Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM). Renaissance Technologies had 2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Burbank’s Passport Capital also initiated a $1.4 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new SZYM investors: Andrew R. Midler’s Savitr Capital, Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM) has seen 2 unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM). These stocks are LSB Industries, Inc. (NYSE:LXU), Aceto Corporation (NASDAQ:ACET), Landec Corporation (NASDAQ:LNDC), Rentech, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:RTK), and FutureFuel Corp. (NYSE:FF). This group of stocks belong to the chemicals – major diversified industry and their market caps resemble SZYM’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| LSB Industries, Inc. (NYSE:LXU) | 13 | 0 | 8 |
| Aceto Corporation (NASDAQ:ACET) | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Landec Corporation (NASDAQ:LNDC) | 9 | 0 | 2 |
| Rentech, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:RTK) | 17 | 0 | 4 |
| FutureFuel Corp. (NYSE:FF) | 11 | 2 | 0 |
With the returns shown by our time-tested strategies, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Solazyme Inc (NASDAQ:SZYM) is no exception.
