Now, according to many of your peers, hedge funds are assumed to be delayed, old financial tools of a forgotten age. Although there are In excess of 8,000 hedge funds trading currently, this site focuses on the elite of this club, around 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of the smart money’s total capital, and by tracking their highest quality stock picks, we’ve discovered a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the S&P 500. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a 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 beaten the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (see all of our picks from August).
Equally as crucial, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to look at the world of equities. There are a number of motivations for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).
Furthermore, it’s important to study the recent info for Thoratec Corporation (NASDAQ:THOR).
What have hedge funds been doing with Thoratec Corporation (NASDAQ:THOR)?
Heading into Q3, a total of 24 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 4% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.
As one would understandably expect, particular hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, established the most valuable position in Thoratec Corporation (NASDAQ:THOR). Renaissance Technologies had 50.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management also initiated a $31.7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new THOR positions are Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
How have insiders been trading Thoratec Corporation (NASDAQ:THOR)?
Insider buying made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, Thoratec Corporation (NASDAQ:THOR) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Thoratec Corporation (NASDAQ:THOR). These stocks are Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ:PODD), HeartWare International Inc (NASDAQ:HTWR), West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST), Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRC), and Haemonetics Corporation (NYSE:HAE). This group of stocks are in the medical instruments & supplies industry and their market caps are similar to THOR’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ:PODD) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| HeartWare International Inc (NASDAQ:HTWR) | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HRC) | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Haemonetics Corporation (NYSE:HAE) | 14 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns demonstrated by the previously mentioned strategies, average investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Thoratec Corporation (NASDAQ:THOR) is an important part of this process.
