In today’s marketplace, there are many gauges investors can use to analyze the equity markets. Two of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see just how much).
Equally as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are lots of reasons for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a glance at the key action surrounding Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM).
How are hedge funds trading Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM)?
Heading into Q2, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -25% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.
According to our comprehensive database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the biggest position in Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM), worth close to $108.5 million, accounting for 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which held a $14.7 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Judging by the fact that Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM) has witnessed declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there is a sect of money managers who sold off their positions entirely last quarter. Interestingly, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management cut the largest position of all the hedgies we key on, comprising about $0.6 million in stock.. Paul Tudor Jones’s fund, Tudor Investment Corp, also dropped its stock, about $0.5 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds last quarter.
What have insiders been doing with Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM). These stocks are Oxford Industries, Inc. (NYSE:OXM), Quiksilver, Inc. (NYSE:ZQK), Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI), Fifth & Pacific Companies Inc (NYSE:FNP), and UniFirst Corp (NYSE:UNF). This group of stocks are in the textile – apparel clothing industry and their market caps are similar to COLM’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Oxford Industries, Inc. (NYSE:OXM) | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| Quiksilver, Inc. (NYSE:ZQK) | 12 | 0 | 1 |
| Carter’s, Inc. (NYSE:CRI) | 39 | 0 | 4 |
| Fifth & Pacific Companies Inc (NYSE:FNP) | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| UniFirst Corp (NYSE:UNF) | 14 | 0 | 4 |
With the returns shown by the aforementioned studies, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM) applies perfectly to this mantra.
