In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of indicators shareholders can use to track publicly traded companies. A duo of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a superb margin (see just how much).
Just as useful, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to analyze the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of stimuli for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).
Furthermore, we’re going to discuss the newest info about United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD).
How have hedgies been trading United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD)?
At Q2’s end, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -21% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.
According to our 13F database, AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, holds the most valuable position in United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD). AQR Capital Management has a $14.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $10.3 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers with similar optimism include Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.
Judging by the fact that United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD) has experienced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few hedge funds that elected to cut their full holdings at the end of the second quarter. At the top of the heap, Michael M. Rothenberg and David Sackler’s Moab Capital Partners cut the largest position of the 450+ funds we track, valued at an estimated $0.8 million in stock, and Neil Chriss of Hutchin Hill Capital was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $0.7 million worth. These moves are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds at the end of the second quarter.
Insider trading activity in United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD)
Insider buying made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also take a look at the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD). These stocks are MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO), Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ:ZUMZ), Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE:BWS), American Greetings Corporation (NYSE:AM), and Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ:TITN). All of these stocks are in the specialty retail, other industry and their market caps are closest to UNTD’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE:HZO) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ:ZUMZ) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE:BWS) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| American Greetings Corporation (NYSE:AM) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ:TITN) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns demonstrated by our analyses, regular investors should always track hedge fund and insider trading activity, and United Online, Inc. (NASDAQ:UNTD) applies perfectly to this mantra.
