Is Syneron Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ:ELOS) a buy right now? The best stock pickers are in a bearish mood. The number of long hedge fund bets stayed the same which is a slightly negative development in our experience
In today’s marketplace, there are many methods shareholders can use to watch stocks. A duo of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a superb margin (see just how much).
Equally as key, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. There are plenty of stimuli for an upper level exec to get rid of 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 method if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a glance at the recent action encompassing Syneron Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ:ELOS).
What does the smart money think about Syneron Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ:ELOS)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Baupost Group, managed by Seth Klarman, holds the largest position in Syneron Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ:ELOS). Baupost Group has a $35 million position in the stock, comprising 1.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Visium Asset Management, managed by Jacob Gottlieb, which held a $23 million position; the fund has 0.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors.
Judging by the fact that Syneron Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ:ELOS) has faced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there was a specific group of hedgies that decided to sell off their full holdings at the end of the year. Intriguingly, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management sold off the biggest stake of the 450+ funds we monitor, comprising an estimated $0 million in stock. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
How are insiders trading Syneron Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ:ELOS)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, Syneron Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ:ELOS) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns shown by the aforementioned research, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Syneron Medical Ltd. (NASDAQ:ELOS) is no exception.
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