UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL) was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. UNXL has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 6 hedge funds in our database with UNXL positions at the end of the previous quarter.
To most stock holders, hedge funds are perceived as worthless, old financial tools of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds trading at the moment, we at Insider Monkey look at the bigwigs of this group, around 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group has its hands on the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by monitoring their highest performing picks, we have brought to light a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see the details here).
Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of motivations for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a peek at the key action encompassing UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL).
Hedge fund activity in UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL)
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 117% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Phil Frohlich’s Prescott Group Capital Management had the most valuable position in UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL), worth close to $5.8 million, comprising 1.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Harvest Capital Strategies, managed by Joseph A. Jolson, which held a $4.6 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors, Alex Sacerdote ‘s Whale Rock Capital Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Consequently, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Harvest Capital Strategies, managed by Joseph A. Jolson, established the largest position in UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL). Harvest Capital Strategies had 4.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also made a $2.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new UNXL positions are Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners, Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital, and John Fichthorn’s Dialectic Capital Management.
How are insiders trading UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time period, UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL). These stocks are Vicor Corp (NASDAQ:VICR), Orbotech Ltd. (NASDAQ:ORBK), Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIMO), CTS Corporation (NYSE:CTS), and KEMET Corporation (NYSE:KEM). All of these stocks are in the diversified electronics industry and their market caps resemble UNXL’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Vicor Corp (NASDAQ:VICR) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Orbotech Ltd. (NASDAQ:ORBK) | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIMO) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| CTS Corporation (NYSE:CTS) | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| KEMET Corporation (NYSE:KEM) | 5 | 1 | 0 |
With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s research, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL) is no exception.
