Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About API Technologies Corp (ATNY) Anymore

API Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:ATNY) has seen a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently.

If you’d ask most shareholders, hedge funds are assumed to be underperforming, old financial vehicles of years past. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at the moment, we at Insider Monkey look at the masters of this group, around 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group controls most of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by watching their best investments, we have come up with a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat 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 trumped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see the details here).

Kyle Bass

Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are a variety of reasons for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a gander at the key action encompassing API Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:ATNY).

What have hedge funds been doing with API Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:ATNY)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -14% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Senator Investment Group, managed by Doug Silverman and Alexander Klabin, holds the largest position in API Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:ATNY). Senator Investment Group has a $14.7 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Nelson Obus of Wynnefield Capital, with a $7.4 million position; the fund has 2.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Kyle Bass’s Hayman Advisors, Phil Frohlich’s Prescott Group Capital Management and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Judging by the fact that API Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:ATNY) has experienced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there was a specific group of hedgies that decided to sell off their entire stakes at the end of the first quarter. At the top of the heap, Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management said goodbye to the biggest investment of all the hedgies we track, totaling close to $0.2 million in stock. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds at the end of the first quarter.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about API Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:ATNY)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time frame, API Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:ATNY) has experienced 2 unique insiders purchasing, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to API Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:ATNY). These stocks are Kopin Corporation (NASDAQ:KOPN), GSI Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSIT), Alliance Fiber Optic Products Inc (NASDAQ:AFOP), NeoPhotonics Corp (NYSE:NPTN), and LDK Solar Co., Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:LDK). This group of stocks are in the semiconductor – broad line industry and their market caps match ATNY’s market cap.

Company Name # of Hedge Funds # of Insiders Buying # of Insiders Selling
Kopin Corporation (NASDAQ:KOPN) 9 1 0
GSI Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSIT) 7 0 1
Alliance Fiber Optic Products Inc (NASDAQ:AFOP) 1 0 6
NeoPhotonics Corp (NYSE:NPTN) 6 0 0
LDK Solar Co., Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:LDK) 4 0 0

With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and API Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:ATNY) is an important part of this process.

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