In the eyes of many market players, hedge funds are assumed to be useless, old investment tools of a forgotten age. Although there are more than 8,000 hedge funds with their doors open today, this site focuses on the aristocrats of this club, about 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group controls the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by keeping an eye on their highest performing picks, we’ve determined a few investment strategies that have historically outpaced the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per 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 outpaced the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (find a sample of our picks).
Just as necessary, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the marketplace. Obviously, there are lots of motivations for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).
Thus, it’s important to study the recent info for IntercontinentalExchange Inc (NYSE:ICE).
How are hedge funds trading IntercontinentalExchange Inc (NYSE:ICE)?
In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 34 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -3% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, Jonathon Jacobson’s Highfields Capital Management had the largest position in IntercontinentalExchange Inc (NYSE:ICE), worth close to $377.5 million, comprising 3.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Senator Investment Group, managed by Doug Silverman and Alexander Klabin, which held a $217.8 million position; the fund has 3.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global, and David Stemerman’s Conatus Capital Management.
Because IntercontinentalExchange Inc (NYSE:ICE) has witnessed declining interest from the smart money’s best and brightest, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of funds that slashed their entire stakes in Q1. At the top of the heap, Kenneth Mario Garschina’s Mason Capital Management said goodbye to the biggest position of all the hedgies we monitor, worth close to $85.2 million in stock, and John Lykouretzos of Hoplite Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $74.4 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds in Q1.
How have insiders been trading IntercontinentalExchange Inc (NYSE:ICE)?
Insider buying made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, IntercontinentalExchange Inc (NYSE:ICE) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 12 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to IntercontinentalExchange Inc (NYSE:ICE). These stocks are Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE:APO), CBOE Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ:CBOE), Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC), NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ), and NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX). This group of stocks are in the diversified investments industry and their market caps match ICE’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE:APO) | 13 | 0 | 5 |
| CBOE Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ:CBOE) | 16 | 0 | 2 |
| Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) | 18 | 1 | 9 |
| NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) | 34 | 0 | 2 |
Using the results demonstrated by our strategies, average investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and IntercontinentalExchange Inc (NYSE:ICE) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
