At the moment, there are many gauges shareholders can use to monitor publicly traded companies. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a superb margin (see just how much).
Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the financial markets. There are plenty of reasons for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a look at the key action encompassing Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ:LINC).
How have hedgies been trading Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ:LINC)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 8 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 60% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
Of the funds we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the largest position in Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ:LINC). Royce & Associates has a $14.2 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $1.3 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Kroch’s GRT Capital Partners and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
Now, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. GRT Capital Partners, managed by Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Kroch, created the most outsized position in Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ:LINC). GRT Capital Partners had 0.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Charles Davidson’s Wexford Capital also initiated a $0.2 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Ben Levine, Andrew Manuel and Stefan Renold’s LMR Partners.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ:LINC)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time period, Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ:LINC) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ:LINC). These stocks are Corinthian Colleges Inc (NASDAQ:COCO), China Distance Education Hldgs Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:DL), Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ:CECO), and ChinaEdu Corporation (ADR) (NASDAQ:CEDU). This group of stocks are the members of the education & training services industry and their market caps match LINC’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Corinthian Colleges Inc (NASDAQ:COCO) | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| China Distance Education Hldgs Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:DL) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ:CECO) | 11 | 1 | 1 |
| ChinaEdu Corporation (ADR) (NASDAQ:CEDU) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s tactics, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (NASDAQ:LINC) is an important part of this process.
