Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ:VOCS) was in 6 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. VOCS investors should pay attention to an increase in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months. There were 5 hedge funds in our database with VOCS holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
To the average investor, there are dozens of indicators shareholders can use to watch the equity markets. A duo of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can beat the broader indices by a superb margin (see just how much).
Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of incentives for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if investors know what to do (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a glance at the recent action regarding Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ:VOCS).
What have hedge funds been doing with Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ:VOCS)?
At year’s end, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 20% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.
Of the funds we track, Alydar Capital, managed by John Murphy, holds the biggest position in Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ:VOCS). Alydar Capital has a $22.8 million position in the stock, comprising 1.8% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Joseph A. Jolson of Harvest Capital Strategies, with a $6.9 million position; the fund has 1.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that hold long positions include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors.
Now, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Algert Coldiron Investors, managed by Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron, assembled the biggest position in Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ:VOCS). Algert Coldiron Investors had 0.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also made a $0.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ:VOCS)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ:VOCS) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ:VOCS). These stocks are Digital River, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRIV), Support.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRT), Keynote Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:KEYN), ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CKSW), and QuinStreet Inc (NASDAQ:QNST). This group of stocks belong to the internet software & services industry and their market caps are closest to VOCS’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Digital River, Inc. (NASDAQ:DRIV) | 12 | 0 | 1 |
| Support.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRT) | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| Keynote Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:KEYN) | 9 | 0 | 5 |
| ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CKSW) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| QuinStreet Inc (NASDAQ:QNST) | 8 | 1 | 0 |
With the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s tactics, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ:VOCS) applies perfectly to this mantra.
