What Do Hedge Funds Think of FinTech Acquisition Corp. (FNTCU)?

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have just completed filing their 13Fs with the Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing their equity portfolios as of the end of September. At Insider Monkey, we follow over 700 of the best-performing investors and by analyzing their 13F filings, we can determine the stocks that they are collectively bullish on. One of their picks is FinTech Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:FNTCU), so let’s take a closer look at the sentiment that surrounds it in the current quarter.

FinTech Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:FNTCU) was in 7 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. FNTCU shareholders have witnessed an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds of late. There were 6 hedge funds in our database with FNTCU holdings at the end of the previous quarter. 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 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 Kindred Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:KIN), Turtle Beach Corp (NASDAQ:HEAR), and AxoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXGN) to gather more data points.

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In the eyes of most market participants, hedge funds are perceived as slow, old financial vehicles of yesteryear. While there are over 8000 funds trading today, Our experts look at the masters of this group, approximately 700 funds. These money managers administer the lion’s share of the smart money’s total capital, and by paying attention to their first-class picks, Insider Monkey has figured out a few investment strategies that have historically beaten the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy exceeded the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points per annum for a decade in their back tests.

Now, we’re going to take a peek at the fresh action encompassing FinTech Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:FNTCU).

What does the smart money think about FinTech Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:FNTCU)?

Heading into Q4, a total of 7 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 17% from the second quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, John M. Angelo and Michael L. Gordon’s Angelo Gordon & Co has the biggest position in FinTech Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:FNTCU), worth close to $7.5 million, amounting to 0.6% of its total 13F portfolio. On Angelo Gordon & Co’s heels is Nantahala Capital Management, managed by Wilmot B. Harkey and Daniel Mack, which holds a $6.6 million position; the fund has 0.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism contain Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management, Curtis Schenker and Craig Effron’s Scoggin and Douglas Hirsch’s Seneca Capital.

As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Bulldog Investors, managed by Phillip Goldstein, Andrew Dakos and Steven Samuels, created the biggest position in FinTech Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:FNTCU). Bulldog Investors had $1.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as FinTech Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:FNTCU) but similarly valued. These stocks are Kindred Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:KIN), Turtle Beach Corp (NASDAQ:HEAR), AxoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXGN), and Intevac, Inc. (NASDAQ:IVAC). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to FNTCU’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
KIN 12 44308 -2
HEAR 4 1168 1
AXGN 4 23914 1
IVAC 7 40332 -1

As you can see these stocks had an average of 6.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $27 million. That figure was $30 million in FNTCU’s case. Kindred Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:KIN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Turtle Beach Corp (NASDAQ:HEAR) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. FinTech Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:FNTCU) 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 KIN might be a better candidate to consider a long position.