Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (SIMO) Anymore

Is Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIMO) a good investment today? Investors who are in the know are taking a bearish view. The number of bullish hedge fund bets dropped by 4 lately.

In today’s marketplace, there are many metrics market participants can use to monitor their holdings. A couple of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can outclass the broader indices by a superb amount (see just how much).

Equally as integral, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of incentives for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a gander at the key action regarding Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIMO).

How have hedgies been trading Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIMO)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -36% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Gregory A. Weaver’s Invicta Capital Management had the largest position in Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIMO), worth close to $31.2 million, accounting for 14% of its total 13F portfolio. On Invicta Capital Management’s heels is Israel Englander of Millennium Management, with a $15.6 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Philip Hempleman’s Ardsley Partners, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.

Seeing as Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIMO) has experienced falling interest from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of hedge funds who sold off their full holdings at the end of the year. Intriguingly, Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies cut the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, worth close to $3.1 million in stock.. Robert B. Gillam’s fund, McKinley Capital Management, also dumped its stock, about $2.7 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds at the end of the year.

How are insiders trading Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIMO)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time frame, Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIMO) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (ADR) (NASDAQ:SIMO). These stocks are Power One Inc (NASDAQ:PWER), Methode Electronics Inc. (NYSE:MEI), UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL), Orbotech Ltd. (NASDAQ:ORBK), and CTS Corporation (NYSE:CTS). All of these stocks are in the diversified electronics industry and their market caps match SIMO’s market cap.