Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD): What Does The Smart Money Think?

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013, the last 13F filing period on record. AMD shareholders have witnessed a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money recently. There were 18 hedge funds in our database with AMD positions at the end of the previous quarter.

AMDAccording to most investors, hedge funds are perceived as worthless, old investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at present, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the elite of this club, close to 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group oversees most of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by keeping an eye on their top equity investments, we have found a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a 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 beaten the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Equally as key, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are many reasons for a bullish insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if investors know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action surrounding Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD).

What have hedge funds been doing with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -22% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management had the most valuable position in Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD), worth close to $52.9 million, comprising 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell of Arrowstreet Capital, with a $17.2 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Ryan Heslop and Ariel Warszawski’s Firefly Value Partners.

Judging by the fact that Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) has experienced a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of hedge funds who sold off their positions entirely in Q1. At the top of the heap, David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments said goodbye to the largest position of all the hedgies we monitor, totaling close to $7 million in stock. Steven Cohen’s fund, SAC Capital Advisors, also cut its call options., about $4.8 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds in Q1.

How have insiders been trading Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results exhibited by the aforementioned tactics, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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