Vishay Intertechnology (VSH): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?: Atmel Corporation (ATML), Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. (MLNX)

Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH) has seen a decrease in hedge fund interest lately.

In today’s marketplace, there are tons of gauges market participants can use to analyze stocks. Two of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best investment managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are lots of reasons for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a peek at the recent action surrounding Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH).

How are hedge funds trading Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH)?

At year’s end, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -6% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH), worth close to $73 million, comprising 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Carlson Capital, managed by Clint Carlson, which held a $30 million position; 0.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Howard Marks’s Oaktree Capital Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

Due to the fact that Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH) has faced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there was a specific group of fund managers who were dropping their entire stakes at the end of the year. It’s worth mentioning that Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies dropped the biggest investment of all the hedgies we key on, valued at about $3 million in stock.. Mike Vranos’s fund, Ellington, also sold off its stock, about $1 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds at the end of the year.

How have insiders been trading Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH). These stocks are Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ:ATML), Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MLNX), Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:CY), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD), and Cavium Inc (NASDAQ:CAVM). All of these stocks are in the semiconductor – broad line industry and their market caps match VSH’s market cap.

With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

Click here to learn more about Insider Monkey’s Hedge Fund Newsletter

Insider Monkey’s small-cap strategy returned 37% between September 2012 and March 2013 versus 12.9% for the S&P 500 index. Try it now by clicking the link above.