Is Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX) a good place to invest some of your money right now? We can gain invaluable insight to help us answer that question by studying the investment trends of top investors, who employ world-class Ivy League graduates, who are given immense resources and industry contacts to put their financial expertise to work. The top picks of these firms have historically outperformed the market when we account for known risk factors, making them very valuable investment ideas.
Yandex NV has experienced an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity, but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Cavium Inc (NASDAQ:CAVM), Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR), and Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI) to gather more data points.
In the financial world there are numerous formulas stock market investors can use to appraise stocks. Two of the most underrated formulas are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see the details here).
Now, let’s analyze the new action surrounding Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX).
What have hedge funds been doing with Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 24 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 4% from the second quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, William B. Gray’s Orbis Investment Management has the biggest position in Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX), worth close to $107.6 million, comprising 0.9% of its total 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Israel Englander of Millennium Management, with a $45.4 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds and institutional investors that are bullish comprise Kerr Neilson’s Platinum Asset Management, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies and David Iben’s Kopernik Global Investors.
As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Point72 Asset Management, managed by Steve Cohen, assembled the largest position in Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX). Point72 Asset Management had $7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Scott Fine and Peter Richards’s Empire Capital Management also made a $6.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new YNDX investors: Simon Sadler’s Segantii Capital, David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, and Peter Muller’s PDT Partners.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX) but similarly valued. These stocks are Cavium Inc (NASDAQ:CAVM), Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR), Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI), and American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble YNDX’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAVM | 21 | 224494 | -3 |
| STR | 15 | 60287 | -1 |
| GLPI | 28 | 915687 | -4 |
| AMH | 16 | 373270 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 20 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $393 million. That figure was $290 million in YNDX’s case. Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (NASDAQ:GLPI) is the most popular stock in this table, while Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR) is the least popular one with only 15 bullish hedge fund positions. Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal, but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on.
