This Metric Says You Are Smart to Sell Ebix Inc (EBIX)

Ebix Inc (NASDAQ:EBIX) was in 7 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. EBIX has seen a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with EBIX holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

To the average investor, there are a multitude of methods investors can use to analyze Mr. Market. A couple of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the market by a significant margin (see just how much).

Equally as important, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of incentives for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if you understand where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a gander at the key action surrounding Ebix Inc (NASDAQ:EBIX).

How have hedgies been trading Ebix Inc (NASDAQ:EBIX)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -36% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the most valuable position in Ebix Inc (NASDAQ:EBIX), worth close to $2.2 million, accounting for less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Hutchin Hill Capital, managed by Neil Chriss, which held a $2.1 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds with similar optimism include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and Mike Vranos’s Ellington.

Due to the fact that Ebix Inc (NASDAQ:EBIX) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there was a specific group of money managers who were dropping their entire stakes heading into Q2. Intriguingly, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management sold off the biggest stake of the 450+ funds we track, valued at an estimated $2.8 million in stock.. Jim Simons’s fund, Renaissance Technologies, also dropped its stock, about $2.2 million worth. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds heading into Q2.

What have insiders been doing with Ebix Inc (NASDAQ:EBIX)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, Ebix Inc (NASDAQ:EBIX) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero 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 Ebix Inc (NASDAQ:EBIX). These stocks are Interactive Intelligence Group Inc (NASDAQ:ININ), Tangoe Inc (NASDAQ:TNGO), CSG Systems International, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGS), Servicesource International Inc (NASDAQ:SREV), and Descartes Systems Group (USA) (NASDAQ:DSGX). All of these stocks are in the business software & services industry and their market caps are similar to EBIX’s market cap.