The worries about the economic slowdown in China and the ongoing uncertainty about the path of interest-rate increases triggered several waves of equity sell-offs during the third quarter. Of course, most hedge funds and other asset managers had to stomach substantial losses during the bloody three-month period, which might have caused some to consider fleeing the U.S. equity markets. Interestingly, smaller-cap stocks registered higher losses than large-capitalization stocks during the September quarter, suggesting that institutional investors heavily discarded seemingly riskier equities amid high uncertainty and turmoil. In fact, the Russell 2000 Index lost 11.9% in the third quarter, while the Standard and Poor’s 500 benchmark declined a mere 6.4%. This article will lay out and discuss the hedge fund and institutional investor sentiment towards AtriCure Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC).
AtriCure Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund interest recently. ATRC was in 17 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with ATRC positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare ATRC to other stocks including Universal Health Realty Income Trust (NYSE:UHT), Fox Factory Holding Corp (NASDAQ:FOXF), and Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTBI) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Atricure Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC)
Follow Atricure Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC)
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit there are several methods market participants put to use to analyze publicly traded companies. A pair of the best methods are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can outpace the market by a superb margin (see the details here).
With all of this in mind, we’re going to check out the recent action regarding AtriCure Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC).
How are hedge funds trading AtriCure Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 21% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Columbus Circle Investors has the number one position in AtriCure Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC), worth close to $21.7 million, corresponding to 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Adage Capital Management, managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, which holds a $21.1 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other professional money managers that are bullish encompass Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Justin John Ferayorni’s Tamarack Capital Management and Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital.
As aggregate interest increased, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Marshall Wace LLP, managed by Paul Marshall and Ian Wace, initiated the most valuable position in AtriCure Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC). Marshall Wace LLP had $1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also initiated a $0.6 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new ATRC positions are Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to AtriCure Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC). We will take a look at Universal Health Realty Income Trust (NYSE:UHT), Fox Factory Holding Corp (NASDAQ:FOXF), Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTBI), and Hemisphere Media Group Inc (NASDAQ:HMTV). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to ATRC’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| UHT | 6 | 10441 | 1 |
| FOXF | 7 | 11988 | -5 |
| CTBI | 4 | 4288 | -2 |
| HMTV | 9 | 139364 | -3 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 6.5 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $42 million. That figure was $139 million in ATRC’s case. Hemisphere Media Group Inc (NASDAQ:HMTV) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Community Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTBI) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks AtriCure Inc. (NASDAQ:ATRC) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.
