Is Press Ganey Holdings Inc (PGND) A Good Stock To Buy?

With the third-quarter round of 13F filings behind us it is time to take a look at the stocks in which some of the best money managers in the world preferred to invest or sell heading into the fourth quarter. One of these stocks was Press Ganey Holdings Inc (NYSE:PGND). During the third quarter, the interest towards the stock among the funds we track declined slightly and the company was included in the equity portfolios of 13 funds at the end of September. Let’s take a closer look at the funds that have assembled the largest stakes in Press Ganey Holdings and other developments surrounding the stock.

However, the level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost or decline in popularity, but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI), Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:ATI), and Intersil Corp (NASDAQ:ISIL) to gather more data points.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit there are several metrics market participants use to appraise their holdings. A couple of the most innovative metrics are hedge fund and insider trading moves. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can trounce the market by a very impressive amount (see the details here).

With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the new action regarding Press Ganey Holdings Inc (NYSE:PGND).

How are hedge funds trading Press Ganey Holdings Inc (NYSE:PGND)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, down by one fund over the quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, ClearBridge holds the largest position in Press Ganey Holdings Inc (NYSE:PGND), which is worth $8.3 million and comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Crosslink Capital, managed by Seymour Sy Kaufman and Michael Stark, which holds a $4 million position; 0.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other professional money managers with similar optimism encompass Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP, Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group, and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.

Since Press Ganey Holdings Inc (NYSE:PGND) has experienced a bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of money managers that elected to cut their positions entirely last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Nick Niell’s Arrowgrass Capital Partners sold off the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds tracked by Insider Monkey, valued at close to $10.2 million in stock, and Christopher James’s Partner Fund Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $6.7 million worth of shares.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Press Ganey Holdings Inc (NYSE:PGND) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI), Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:ATI), Intersil Corp (NASDAQ:ISIL), and Chesapeake Lodging Trust (NYSE:CHSP). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to PGND’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $94 million. That figure was $36 million in PGND’s case. Nelnet, Inc. (NYSE:NNI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Chesapeake Lodging Trust (NYSE:CHSP) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. Press Ganey Holdings Inc (NYSE:PGND) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard NNI might be a better candidate to consider a long position.