Is Multimedia Games Holding Company Inc (NASDAQ:MGAM) a good stock to buy now? Money managers are buying. The number of long hedge fund positions increased by 1 recently.
At the moment, there are many metrics market participants can use to analyze their holdings. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can outperform the market by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Just as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are lots of stimuli for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, it’s important to take a glance at the recent action regarding Multimedia Games Holding Company Inc (NASDAQ:MGAM).
How are hedge funds trading Multimedia Games Holding Company Inc (NASDAQ:MGAM)?
Heading into Q2, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 6% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
According to our comprehensive database, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the biggest position in Multimedia Games Holding Company Inc (NASDAQ:MGAM). Renaissance Technologies has a $23.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Richard Driehaus of Driehaus Capital, with a $11.9 million position; the fund has 0.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management.
Consequently, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, initiated the largest position in Multimedia Games Holding Company Inc (NASDAQ:MGAM). Columbus Circle Investors had 1.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also initiated a $0.6 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new MGAM positions are Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.
Insider trading activity in Multimedia Games Holding Company Inc (NASDAQ:MGAM)
Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, Multimedia Games Holding Company Inc (NASDAQ:MGAM) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Multimedia Games Holding Company Inc (NASDAQ:MGAM). These stocks are Bally Technologies Inc. (NYSE:BYI), Asia Entertainment & Resources Ltd. (NASDAQ:AERL), WMS Industries Inc. (NYSE:WMS), Churchill Downs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHDN), and Scientific Games Corp (NASDAQ:SGMS). This group of stocks are in the gaming activities industry and their market caps are similar to MGAM’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Bally Technologies Inc. (NYSE:BYI) | 15 | 1 | 6 |
| Asia Entertainment & Resources Ltd. (NASDAQ:AERL) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| WMS Industries Inc. (NYSE:WMS) | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| Churchill Downs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHDN) | 19 | 1 | 2 |
| Scientific Games Corp (NASDAQ:SGMS) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
With the returns shown by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Multimedia Games Holding Company Inc (NASDAQ:MGAM) is no exception.
