To most market participants, hedge funds are viewed as unimportant, outdated investment tools of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading at the moment, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the masters of this group, about 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group has its hands on the majority of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by paying attention to their best equity investments, we have discovered a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually 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 outpaced the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see the details here).
Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the stock market universe. There are plenty of stimuli for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if you know what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a glance at the key action encompassing Town Sports International Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLUB).
How have hedgies been trading Town Sports International Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLUB)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 8% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Andrew Spokes’s Farallon Capital had the biggest position in Town Sports International Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLUB), worth close to $38.4 million, accounting for 0.8% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Richard Rubin of Hawkeye Capital, with a $13.2 million position; 4.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Brett Hendrickson’s Nokomis Capital and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Hawkeye Capital, managed by Richard Rubin, initiated the most outsized position in Town Sports International Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLUB). Hawkeye Capital had 13.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also initiated a $0.3 million position during the quarter.
What have insiders been doing with Town Sports International Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLUB)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, Town Sports International Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLUB) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Town Sports International Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLUB) is no exception.
