Hedge Funds Are Crazy About Manhattan Associates, Inc. (MANH)

Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH) investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund interest lately.

To the average investor, there are dozens of gauges investors can use to watch their holdings. Some of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a solid amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the marketplace. There are plenty of motivations for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a glance at the latest action surrounding Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH).

What does the smart money think about Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 17% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the largest position in Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH). Royce & Associates has a $39.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $28.1 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management and John Brennan’s Sirios Capital Management.

Consequently, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Driehaus Capital, managed by Richard Driehaus, established the most outsized position in Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH). Driehaus Capital had 0.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. J. Alan Reid, Jr.’s Forward Management also made a $0.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time period, Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH) has experienced 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 Manhattan Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:MANH). These stocks are Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNCR), NIC Inc. (NASDAQ:EGOV), Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ:PRGS), RealPage, Inc. (NASDAQ:RP), and Advent Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADVS). All of these stocks are in the application software industry and their market caps are similar to MANH’s market cap.