Hedge Funds Are Selling Affymetrix, Inc. (AFFX)

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Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. AFFX has seen a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with AFFX holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX)In the eyes of most shareholders, hedge funds are seen as worthless, old financial tools of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at present, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the upper echelon of this club, about 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group has its hands on most of the smart money’s total asset base, and by watching their highest performing picks, we have come up with a few 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 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 outclassed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).

Just as important, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of motivations for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a peek at the key action surrounding Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX).

What have hedge funds been doing with Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -27% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.

Of the funds we track, Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors had the biggest position in Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX), worth close to $32.1 million, accounting for 0.7% of its total 13F portfolio. On OrbiMed Advisors’s heels is Levin Capital Strategies, managed by John A. Levin, which held a $25.9 million position; the fund has 0.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.

Seeing as Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) has experienced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there exists a select few money managers that slashed their entire stakes at the end of the first quarter. Interestingly, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management said goodbye to the biggest stake of all the hedgies we key on, comprising close to $2.2 million in stock., and Richard Schimel of Diamondback Capital was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $1 million worth. These moves are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds at the end of the first quarter.

How are insiders trading Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero 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 Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX). These stocks are Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM), Telenav Inc (NASDAQ:TNAV), Zygo Corporation (NASDAQ:ZIGO), GSI Group Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:GSIG), and Rudolph Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:RTEC). This group of stocks are the members of the scientific & technical instruments industry and their market caps match AFFX’s market cap.

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