First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in hedge fund sentiment in recent months.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of methods market participants can use to track stocks. A pair of the most useful 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 very impressive amount (see just how much).
Equally as integral, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the financial markets. There are plenty of stimuli for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if you understand what to do (learn more here).
Consequently, we’re going to take a glance at the recent action surrounding First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR).
How are hedge funds trading First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -5% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management had the most valuable position in First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR), worth close to $61 million, accounting for 1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, which held a $47 million call position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Tiger Global Management LLC, and John Thaler’s JAT Capital Management.
Because First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) has faced a declination in interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of fund managers who were dropping their full holdings in Q4. Interestingly, Christopher MedlockáJames’s Partner Fund Management sold off the biggest position of all the hedgies we watch, worth close to $7 million in stock.. Robert Pohly’s fund, Samlyn Capital, also dumped its stock, about $7 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds in Q4.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time period, First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns shown by our strategies, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) is an important part of this process.
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