Is Easterly Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:EACQ) a good stock to buy right now? We, at Insider Monkey, like to examine what billionaires and hedge funds think of a company before doing days of research on it. Given their 2 and 20 payment structure, hedge funds have more resources than the average investor. The funds have access to expert networks and get tips from industry insiders. They also have numerous Ivy League graduates and MBAs. Like everyone else, hedge funds perform miserably at times, but their consensus picks have historically outperformed the market after risk adjustments.
Easterly Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:EACQ) has seen an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. At the end of this article, we will also compare Easterly Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:EACQ) to other stocks, including Malibu Boats Inc (NASDAQ:MBUU), BioTime, Inc. (NYSEMKT:BTX), and QuinStreet Inc (NASDAQ:QNST) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Easterly Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:EACQ)
Follow Easterly Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:EACQ)
In today’s marketplace, there are numerous signals investors employ to grade stocks. A pair of the best signals are hedge fund and insider trading signals. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see the details here).
Now, let’s go over the key action encompassing Easterly Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:EACQ).
What does the smart money think about Easterly Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:EACQ)?
At the end of Q3, a total of 16 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Fir Tree holds the largest position in Easterly Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:EACQ). Fir Tree has an $18.5 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Anand Parekh of Alyeska Investment Group, with a $15.4 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other professional money managers that hold long positions contain Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments, Nick Niell’s Arrowgrass Capital Partners, and Neil Chriss’ Hutchin Hill Capital.
As one would reasonably expect, key money managers have jumped into Easterly Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:EACQ) headfirst. Some of the funds with new positions in the stock are Moore Global Investments, Arrowgrass Capital Partners, and Hutchin Hill Capital.
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Easterly Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:EACQ). These stocks are Malibu Boats Inc (NASDAQ:MBUU), BioTime, Inc. (NYSEMKT:BTX), QuinStreet Inc (NASDAQ:QNST), and ChannelAdvisor Corp (NYSE:ECOM). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to Easterly Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:EACQ)’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| MBUU | 14 | 27597 | -1 |
| BTX | 11 | 66688 | -3 |
| QNST | 16 | 71816 | 2 |
| ECOM | 7 | 14706 | 2 |
As you can see, these stocks had an average of 12 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $45 million. That figure was $87 million in Easterly Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:EACQ)’s case. QuinStreet Inc (NASDAQ:QNST) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, ChannelAdvisor Corp (NYSE:ECOM) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. Easterly Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:EACQ) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal, but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard, QuinStreet Inc (NASDAQ:QNST) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.