Datalink Corporation (DTLK): Hedge Funds Are Bullish and Insiders Are Bearish, What Should You Do?

Is Datalink Corporation (NASDAQ:DTLK) a buy, sell, or hold? Prominent investors are becoming hopeful. The number of long hedge fund positions went up by 2 recently.

In the financial world, there are many indicators investors can use to track publicly traded companies. A couple of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can beat their index-focused peers by a significant margin (see just how much).

Chuck Royce

Equally as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of incentives for a corporate insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a peek at the key action surrounding Datalink Corporation (NASDAQ:DTLK).

What does the smart money think about Datalink Corporation (NASDAQ:DTLK)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 40% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in Datalink Corporation (NASDAQ:DTLK), worth close to $9.3 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Driehaus Capital, managed by Richard Driehaus, which held a $1.3 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Driehaus Capital, managed by Richard Driehaus, established the most valuable position in Datalink Corporation (NASDAQ:DTLK). Driehaus Capital had 1.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $0.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter.

Insider trading activity in Datalink Corporation (NASDAQ:DTLK)

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time frame, Datalink Corporation (NASDAQ:DTLK) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Datalink Corporation (NASDAQ:DTLK). These stocks are OCZ Technology Group Inc. (NASDAQ:OCZ), Imation Corp. (NYSE:IMN), Quantum Corp (NYSE:QTM), Xyratex Ltd. (NASDAQ:XRTX), and STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ:STEC). This group of stocks belong to the data storage devices industry and their market caps are similar to DTLK’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
OCZ Technology Group Inc. (NASDAQ:OCZ) 5 0 0
Imation Corp. (NYSE:IMN) 9 1 0
Quantum Corp (NYSE:QTM) 11 1 0
Xyratex Ltd. (NASDAQ:XRTX) 9 0 0
STEC, Inc. (NASDAQ:STEC) 15 2 0

With the returns demonstrated by our tactics, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Datalink Corporation (NASDAQ:DTLK) is an important part of this process.

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