Is LTX-Credence Corp (NASDAQ:LTXC) a buy here? Hedge funds are in a bullish mood. The number of long hedge fund bets improved by 1 in recent months.
Equally as important, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the stock market universe. There are many motivations for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a glance at the key action regarding LTX-Credence Corp (NASDAQ:LTXC).
How have hedgies been trading LTX-Credence Corp (NASDAQ:LTXC)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 8% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, Brett Hendrickson’s Nokomis Capital had the largest position in LTX-Credence Corp (NASDAQ:LTXC), worth close to $14.4 million, comprising 4.5% of its total 13F portfolio. On Nokomis Capital’s heels is Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $11.7 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Eric Bannasch’s Cadian Capital, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key money managers have jumped into LTX-Credence Corp (NASDAQ:LTXC) headfirst. Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, established the largest position in LTX-Credence Corp (NASDAQ:LTXC). Balyasny Asset Management had 1.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies also made a $0.9 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
What have insiders been doing with LTX-Credence Corp (NASDAQ:LTXC)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time period, LTX-Credence Corp (NASDAQ:LTXC) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 2 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 LTX-Credence Corp (NASDAQ:LTXC). These stocks are Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU), Daqo New Energy Corp (NYSE:DQ), Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI), Nanometrics Incorporated (NASDAQ:NANO), and Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH). This group of stocks belong to the semiconductor equipment & materials industry and their market caps match LTXC’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) | 0 | 1 | |
| Daqo New Energy Corp (NYSE:DQ) | 0 | 0 | |
| Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Nanometrics Incorporated (NASDAQ:NANO) | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Enphase Energy Inc (NASDAQ:ENPH) | 2 | 2 |
With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned strategies, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and LTX-Credence Corp (NASDAQ:LTXC) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
