Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE:WMK) was in 9 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. WMK has seen a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with WMK positions at the end of the previous quarter.
According to most shareholders, hedge funds are perceived as underperforming, outdated investment tools of the past. While there are over 8000 funds in operation at present, we at Insider Monkey look at the elite of this group, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group has its hands on the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by watching their best picks, we have unearthed a few investment strategies that have historically outpaced the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum 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 trumped the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (see all of our picks from August).
Just as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of incentives for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).
Consequently, it’s important to take a peek at the recent action surrounding Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE:WMK).
How are hedge funds trading Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE:WMK)?
At year’s end, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.
According to our comprehensive database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE:WMK), worth close to $44.5 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $23 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Seeing as Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE:WMK) has faced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few hedgies that decided to sell off their positions entirely last quarter. At the top of the heap, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management dumped the biggest stake of all the hedgies we key on, worth close to $0.2 million in stock. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
Insider trading activity in Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE:WMK)
Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE:WMK) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, 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 Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE:WMK). These stocks are The Fresh Market Inc (NASDAQ:TFM), Core-Mark Holding Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:CORE), Village Super Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:VLGEA), SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE:SVU), and Susser Holdings Corporation (NYSE:SUSS). This group of stocks belong to the grocery stores industry and their market caps are closest to WMK’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| The Fresh Market Inc (NASDAQ:TFM) | 11 | 1 | 3 |
| Core-Mark Holding Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:CORE) | 12 | 0 | 5 |
| Village Super Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:VLGEA) | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE:SVU) | 21 | 0 | 1 |
| Susser Holdings Corporation (NYSE:SUSS) | 16 | 1 | 5 |
With the returns shown by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE:WMK) is no exception.
