Hedge Funds Are Betting Big On HMS Holdings Corp. (HMSY)

The Insider Monkey team has completed processing the quarterly 13F filings for the September quarter submitted by the hedge funds and other money managers included in our extensive database. Most hedge fund investors endured a torrid quarter, which certainly propelled them to adjust their equity holdings so as to maintain the desired risk profile. As a result, the relevancy of these public filings and their content is indisputable, as they may reveal numerous high-potential stocks. The following article will discuss the smart money sentiment towards HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:HMSY).

Is HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:HMSY) a buy, sell, or hold? Hedge funds are becoming hopeful. The number of bullish hedge fund positions moved up by 14 lately. HMSY was in 25 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September, while at the end of the previous quarter there were 11 hedge funds in our database with HMSY holdings. 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 Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW), Lindsay Corporation (NYSE:LNN), and Mitel Networks Corporation (NASDAQ:MITL) to gather more data points.

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If you’d ask most traders, hedge funds are seen as unimportant, old investment vehicles of years past. While there are more than an 8000 funds with their doors open at the moment, our researchers choose to focus on the leaders of this group, around 700 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group of people handle the majority of the smart money’s total capital, and by keeping track of their matchless equity investments, Insider Monkey has spotted numerous investment strategies that have historically beaten the market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points a year for a decade in their back tests.

Now, we’re going to take a gander at the latest action regarding HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:HMSY).

Hedge fund activity in HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:HMSY)

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 25 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a surge of 127% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Camber Capital Management, managed by Stephen DuBois, holds the largest position in HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:HMSY). The fund has reported a $19.1 million position in the stock, comprising 1.6% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which holds a $18.1 million position; the fund has less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism include Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Camber Capital Management initiated the most valuable position in HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:HMSY) during the quarter, becoming the largest holder of the stock among the funds we follow. Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management also initiated a $10.2 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in this stock are Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:HMSY) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW), Lindsay Corporation (NYSE:LNN), Mitel Networks Corporation (NASDAQ:MITL), and Glaukos Corp (NYSE:GKOS). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to HMSY’s market value.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
CVGW 18 31164 2
LNN 11 97943 -2
MITL 7 89615 -2
GKOS 6 79821 -3

As you can see these stocks had an average of 11 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $75 million. That figure was $85 million in HMSY’s case, which is a positive sign. While Calavo Growers, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVGW) is the most popular stock in this table and Glaukos Corp (NYSE:GKOS) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions, HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:HMSY) is way ahead of them all. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.