Here is What Hedge Funds Think About IMAX Corporation (USA) (IMAX)

IMAX Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IMAX) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently.

In the eyes of most shareholders, hedge funds are perceived as slow, outdated investment tools of years past. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open today, we at Insider Monkey look at the elite of this group, about 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by keeping an eye on their highest performing stock picks, we have formulated a few investment strategies that have historically outpaced Mr. 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 began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have trumped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).

IMAX Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IMAX)Just as key, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. There are many stimuli for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a glance at the key action regarding IMAX Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IMAX).

How have hedgies been trading IMAX Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IMAX)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -18% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly.

Of the funds we track, Tremblant Capital, managed by Brett Barakett, holds the largest position in IMAX Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IMAX). Tremblant Capital has a $53.3 million position in the stock, comprising 2.5% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Glenn Russell Dubin of Highbridge Capital Management, with a $50.1 million position; 0.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Stuart Peterson’s Artis Capital Management and Brett Barakett’s Tremblant Capital.

Judging by the fact that IMAX Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IMAX) has experienced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, we can see that there is a sect of hedgies who were dropping their full holdings at the end of the first quarter. At the top of the heap, Robert Pohly’s Samlyn Capital dumped the largest stake of the 450+ funds we key on, totaling about $27.1 million in stock.. Josh Resnick’s fund, Jericho Capital Asset Management, also said goodbye to its stock, about $26.7 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds at the end of the first quarter.

How have insiders been trading IMAX Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IMAX)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, IMAX Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IMAX) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to IMAX Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IMAX). These stocks are Bona Film Group Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:BONA), World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE), The Madison Square Garden Co (NASDAQ:MSG), Starz (NASDAQ:STRZA), and Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV). All of these stocks are in the entertainment – diversified industry and their market caps resemble IMAX’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Bona Film Group Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:BONA) 6 0 0
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:WWE) 12 0 2
The Madison Square Garden Co (NASDAQ:MSG) 27 0 1
Starz (NASDAQ:STRZA) 27 0 2
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV) 27 2 1

With the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and IMAX Corporation (USA) (NYSE:IMAX) is an important part of this process.

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