Insider Monkey has processed numerous 13F filings of hedge funds and famous investors to create an extensive database of hedge fund holdings. The 13F filings show the hedge funds and investors’ positions as of the end of the third quarter. You can find write-ups about an individual hedge fund’s trades on numerous financial news websites. However, in this article we will take a look at their collective moves and analyze what the smart money thinks of Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE) based on that data.
Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE) has seen an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately. Our calculations also showed that CREE isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit there are a large number of indicators market participants can use to analyze publicly traded companies. A pair of the less known indicators are hedge fund and insider trading signals. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a significant amount (see the details here).
Let’s take a look at the new hedge fund action encompassing Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE).
How are hedge funds trading Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE)?
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2018, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 30% from the second quarter of 2018. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards CREE over the last 13 quarters. So, let’s review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE) was held by Iridian Asset Management, which reported holding $163.3 million worth of stock at the end of September. It was followed by Columbus Circle Investors with a $17 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Polar Capital, Citadel Investment Group, and Citadel Investment Group.
As one would reasonably expect, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. GLG Partners, managed by Noam Gottesman, initiated the largest position in Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE). GLG Partners had $0.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management also made a $0.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management, Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp, and Nick Niell’s Arrowgrass Capital Partners.
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Matador Resources Co (NYSE:MTDR), Acxiom Corporation (NASDAQ:ACXM), Cantel Medical Corp. (NYSE:CMD), and The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR). This group of stocks’ market values resemble CREE’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| MTDR | 10 | 153988 | 0 |
| ACXM | 15 | 327368 | -4 |
| CMD | 23 | 232714 | 2 |
| TKR | 29 | 220607 | 7 |
| Average | 19.25 | 233669 | 1.25 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 19.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $234 million. That figure was $216 million in CREE’s case. The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Matador Resources Co (NYSE:MTDR) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard TKR might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
