Health Management Associates Inc (NYSE:HMA): Hedge Funds and Insiders Are Bullish, What Should You Do?

Health Management Associates Inc (NYSE:HMA) was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. HMA has seen an increase in hedge fund interest of late. There were 16 hedge funds in our database with HMA holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

Health Management Associates Inc (NYSE:HMA)

In the financial world, there are dozens of metrics market participants can use to watch their holdings. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Just as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the world of equities. There are lots of motivations for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a gander at the recent action surrounding Health Management Associates Inc (NYSE:HMA).

What does the smart money think about Health Management Associates Inc (NYSE:HMA)?

At year’s end, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 19% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, Larry Robbins’s Glenview Capital had the most valuable position in Health Management Associates Inc (NYSE:HMA), worth close to $327 million, comprising 4.6% of its total 13F portfolio. On Glenview Capital’s heels is Clough Capital Partners, managed by Charles Clough, which held a $35 million position; the fund has 1.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, Gabe Hoffman’s Accipiter Capital Management and Keith Meister’s Corvex Capital.

As aggregate interest increased, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Clough Capital Partners, managed by Charles Clough, initiated the biggest position in Health Management Associates Inc (NYSE:HMA). Clough Capital Partners had 35 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Keith Meister’s Corvex Capital also made a $10 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new HMA positions are Jay Venkatesen’s Ayer Capital Management, David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, and Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital.

How are insiders trading Health Management Associates Inc (NYSE:HMA)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time frame, Health Management Associates Inc (NYSE:HMA) has seen 2 unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned research, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Health Management Associates Inc (NYSE:HMA) is an important part of this process.

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