This Metric Says You Are Smart to Buy Sony Corporation (ADR) (SNE)

Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. SNE investors should be aware of an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with SNE positions at the end of the previous quarter.

To the average investor, there are plenty of metrics investors can use to watch stocks. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can trounce the market by a solid margin (see just how much).

Equally as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are lots of incentives for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if investors understand what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a peek at the key action surrounding Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE).

Hedge fund activity in Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE)

At Q1’s end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 27% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the most valuable position in Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE). Renaissance Technologies has a $47.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, which held a $21 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Christopher Lord’s Criterion Capital.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Impala Asset Management, managed by Robert Bishop, initiated the most outsized position in Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE). Impala Asset Management had 10 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Christopher Lord’s Criterion Capital also initiated a $5 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new SNE investors: Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management, John Thiessen’s Vertex One Asset Management, and Philip Hempleman’s Ardsley Partners.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE). These stocks are Universal Electronics Inc (NASDAQ:UEIC), Fabrinet (NYSE:FN), Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB), Harman International Industries Inc./DE/ (NYSE:HAR), and Panasonic Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:PC). This group of stocks belong to the electronic equipment industry and their market caps match SNE’s market cap.

With the returns shown by the aforementioned strategies, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds