At the moment, there are tons of gauges investors can use to analyze their holdings. Some of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can outperform the market by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to break down the world of equities. There are a number of stimuli for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, it’s important to take a gander at the key action regarding SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA).
What does the smart money think about SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -17% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.
Of the funds we track, Platinum Asset Management, managed by Kerr Neilson, holds the largest position in SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA). Platinum Asset Management has a $243 million position in the stock, comprising 5.4% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Robert Karr of Joho Capital, with a $59 million position; 1.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Brian Kelly’s Asian Century Quest, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Seeing as SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA) has faced a declination in interest from the smart money, logic holds that there were a few hedgies that slashed their entire stakes at the end of the year. It’s worth mentioning that Douglas Dillard Jr. and Raj D. Venkatesan’s Standard Pacific Capital cut the largest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, valued at close to $53 million in stock., and John Thaler of JAT Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $52 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds at the end of the year.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s studies, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and SINA Corp (NASDAQ:SINA) is no exception.
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