RealNetworks Inc (RNWK): Insiders Aren’t Crazy About It

Is RealNetworks Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK) a buy right now? The smart money is in a bearish mood. The number of long hedge fund positions stayed the same which is a slightly negative development in our experience.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of indicators investors can use to monitor the equity markets. A duo of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outpace the market by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. There are lots of motivations for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a look at the latest action encompassing RealNetworks Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK).

What have hedge funds been doing with RealNetworks Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK)?

At year’s end, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.

Of the funds we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the largest position in RealNetworks Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK). Renaissance Technologies has a $3.7 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Peter A. Wright of P.A.W. CAPITAL PARTNERS, with a $3.5 million position; 2.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

How have insiders been trading RealNetworks Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK)?

Insider buying is most useful when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time period, RealNetworks Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to RealNetworks Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK). These stocks are DTS Inc. (NASDAQ:DTSI), Active Network Inc (NYSE:ACTV), Actuate Corporation (NASDAQ:BIRT), Vringo, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:VRNG), and Guidance Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:GUID). This group of stocks are the members of the application software industry and their market caps match RNWK’s market cap.