VirnetX Holding Corporation (NYSEAMEX:VHC) was in 6 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. VHC has experienced a decrease in hedge fund sentiment lately. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with VHC holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of gauges market participants can use to track stocks. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Equally as key, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of reasons for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a glance at the recent action regarding VirnetX Holding Corporation (NYSEAMEX:VHC).
What does the smart money think about VirnetX Holding Corporation (NYSEAMEX:VHC)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -14% from the third quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.
According to our comprehensive database, Cadian Capital, managed by Eric Bannasch, holds the biggest position in VirnetX Holding Corporation (NYSEAMEX:VHC). Cadian Capital has a $36.1 million position in the stock, comprising 1.2% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group, with a $6.4 million call position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies with similar optimism include Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management, and Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management.
Because VirnetX Holding Corporation (NYSEAMEX:VHC) has experienced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there were a few funds that slashed their entire stakes last quarter. Interestingly, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw said goodbye to the biggest stake of the 450+ funds we monitor, worth close to $2.4 million in stock.. Chuck Royce’s fund, Royce & Associates, also sold off its stock, about $0.6 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds last quarter.
Insider trading activity in VirnetX Holding Corporation (NYSEAMEX:VHC)
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, VirnetX Holding Corporation (NYSEAMEX:VHC) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to VirnetX Holding Corporation (NYSEAMEX:VHC). These stocks are J2 Global Inc (NASDAQ:JCOM), ExactTarget Inc (NYSE:ET), Demand Media Inc (NYSE:DMD), DealerTrack Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:TRAK), and Angie’s List Inc (NASDAQ:ANGI). This group of stocks belong to the internet software & services industry and their market caps are similar to VHC’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| J2 Global Inc (NASDAQ:JCOM) | 10 | 0 | 5 |
| ExactTarget Inc (NYSE:ET) | 9 | 2 | 17 |
| Demand Media Inc (NYSE:DMD) | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| DealerTrack Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:TRAK) | 9 | 0 | 8 |
| Angie’s List Inc (NASDAQ:ANGI) | 9 | 0 | 6 |
With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and VirnetX Holding Corporation (NYSEAMEX:VHC) applies perfectly to this mantra.
See the 7 most bullish names on the following pages:
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No. 1:
