Is Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG) the right investment to pursue these days? Money managers are becoming less confident. The number of long hedge fund positions were trimmed by 1 in recent months.
To most investors, hedge funds are seen as unimportant, old investment tools of the past. While there are over 8000 funds with their doors open at present, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the moguls of this club, about 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by monitoring their highest performing equity investments, we have deciphered a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have beaten the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).
Consequently, it’s important to take a peek at the key action encompassing Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG).
What does the smart money think about Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -8% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.
Of the funds we track, Polar Capital, managed by Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley, holds the most valuable position in Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG). Polar Capital has a $8.6 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell of Arrowstreet Capital, with a $6.3 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Since Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG) has faced declining sentiment from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there was a specific group of hedge funds who sold off their positions entirely at the end of the first quarter. At the top of the heap, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management dropped the biggest stake of all the hedgies we track, comprising an estimated $0.4 million in stock., and David Costen Haley of HBK Investments was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $0.2 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds at the end of the first quarter.
How have insiders been trading Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG)?
Bullish insider trading is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG) 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 Amsurg Corp (NASDAQ:AMSG). These stocks are Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH), Health Management Associates Inc (NYSE:HMA), LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPNT), Select Medical Holdings Corporation (NYSE:SEM), and Vanguard Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE:VHS). This group of stocks belong to the hospitals industry and their market caps match AMSG’s market cap.
