United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD) was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. UNTD has experienced a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with UNTD holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of metrics shareholders can use to monitor their holdings. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can beat the S&P 500 by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Equally as important, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to break down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are a number of incentives for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a peek at the key action encompassing United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD).
Hedge fund activity in United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD)
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.
Due to the fact that United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD) has experienced a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of money managers who were dropping their entire stakes heading into Q2. Intriguingly, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital dropped the biggest position of all the hedgies we watch, totaling close to $1.3 million in stock., and Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk of GRT Capital Partners was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $0.2 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
What have insiders been doing with United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD)?
Insider buying is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD). These stocks are MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO), Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ:ZUMZ), Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE:BWS), American Greetings Corporation (NYSE:AM), and Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ:TITN). This group of stocks are in the specialty retail, other industry and their market caps match UNTD’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO) | 10 | 0 | 7 |
| Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ:ZUMZ) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE:BWS) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| American Greetings Corporation (NYSE:AM) | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ:TITN) | 12 | 0 | 2 |
With the results exhibited by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD) applies perfectly to this mantra.
