Is Neustar Inc (NYSE:NSR) a good investment?
In the eyes of many investors, hedge funds are perceived as useless, old financial vehicles of a forgotten age. Although there are more than 8,000 hedge funds with their doors open in present day, this site focuses on the elite of this group, about 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group oversees the majority of the smart money’s total assets, and by tracking their highest quality picks, we’ve discovered a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum 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 33 percentage points in 11 months (see all of our picks from August).
Equally as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are a number of motivations for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).
Furthermore, it’s important to study the newest info about Neustar Inc (NYSE:NSR).
Hedge fund activity in Neustar Inc (NYSE:NSR)
At Q2’s end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -18% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the most valuable position in Neustar Inc (NYSE:NSR). Renaissance Technologies has a $79.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Edward Goodnow of Goodnow Investment Group, with a $44 million position; 8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Spencer M. Waxman’s Shannon River Fund Management, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
Due to the fact Neustar Inc (NYSE:NSR) has faced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there was a specific group of hedge funds that elected to cut their positions entirely last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital dropped the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we track, valued at about $3.8 million in stock, and Matthew Tewksbury of Stevens Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $1.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds last quarter.
What have insiders been doing with Neustar Inc (NYSE:NSR)?
Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, Neustar Inc (NYSE:NSR) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Neustar Inc (NYSE:NSR). These stocks are Cogent Communications Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI), Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), Oi SA (ADR) (NYSE:OIBR), Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE:LVLT), and Telecom Argentina S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TEO). This group of stocks are the members of the diversified communication services industry and their market caps match NSR’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Cogent Communications Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCOI) | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| Oi SA (ADR) (NYSE:OIBR) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE:LVLT) | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| Telecom Argentina S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:TEO) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns explained by Insider Monkey’s analyses, regular investors must always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Neustar Inc (NYSE:NSR) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
