What Are Smart Groupon Inc (GRPN) Investors Doing?

Is Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) a bargain? The best stock pickers are getting more bullish. The number of long hedge fund bets inched up by 4 lately.

At the moment, there are many indicators shareholders can use to analyze stocks. A duo of the most underrated 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 money managers can outclass the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are many incentives for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a look at the recent action surrounding Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN).

How are hedge funds trading Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 25 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 19% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Tiger Global Management LLC, managed by Chase Coleman and Feroz Dewan, holds the largest position in Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN). Tiger Global Management LLC has a $397.8 million position in the stock, comprising 6.2% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by JANA Partners, managed by Barry Rosenstein, which held a $134.3 million position; 2.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedgies that are bullish include John Lykouretzos’s Hoplite Capital Management, Bill Miller’s Legg Mason Capital Management and Pasco Alfaro / Richard Tumure’s Miura Global Management.

Consequently, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. JANA Partners, managed by Barry Rosenstein, created the biggest position in Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN). JANA Partners had 134.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Lykouretzos’s Hoplite Capital Management also initiated a $71.6 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Jeffrey Jon Berney’s TriOaks Capital Management, and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sale (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) is an important part of this process.

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