SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA) was in 26 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. SINA shareholders have witnessed an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately. There were 23 hedge funds in our database with SINA positions at the end of the previous quarter.
According to most traders, hedge funds are assumed to be underperforming, outdated financial tools of yesteryear. While there are over 8000 funds in operation today, we look at the top tier of this group, around 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group has its hands on most of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by keeping an eye on their top stock picks, we have deciphered a few investment strategies that have historically outpaced the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed 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 trumped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see the details here).
Equally as key, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are many stimuli for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a glance at the recent action regarding SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA).
What have hedge funds been doing with SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 26 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 13% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.
As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Fortress Investment Group, managed by Michael Novogratz, established the largest call position in SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA). Fortress Investment Group had 15.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments also made a $13.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new SINA positions are Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments, Michael Novogratz’s Fortress Investment Group, and Philippe Jabre’s Jabre Capital Partners.
What have insiders been doing with SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time frame, SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned studies, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA) is no exception.
