Cerner Corporation (CERN): Insiders Aren’t Crazy About It

Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN) investors should pay attention to an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months.

In the financial world, there are a multitude of methods market participants can use to watch Mr. Market. 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 amount (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of motivations for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if you understand what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a glance at the latest action encompassing Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN).

How have hedgies been trading Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 19% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the biggest position in Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN). Citadel Investment Group has a $30.5 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Highfields Capital Management, managed by Jonathon Jacobson, which held a $15.9 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital.

Now, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, assembled the biggest position in Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN). Arrowstreet Capital had 15.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital also initiated a $11.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new CERN positions are Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, and SAC Subsidiary’s Sigma Capital Management.

How are insiders trading Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 10 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN). These stocks are Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:QSII), MedAssets, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDAS), WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ:WBMD), Medidata Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MDSO), and Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:MDRX). This group of stocks are in the healthcare information services industry and their market caps resemble CERN’s market cap.