What Hedge Funds Think About Apollo Group Inc (APOL)

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At the moment, there are plenty of gauges investors can use to analyze publicly traded companies. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a significant amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to analyze the stock market universe. Obviously, there are a variety of incentives for a corporate insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if you understand where to look (learn more here).

Furthermore, let’s study the latest info surrounding Apollo Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL).

Hedge fund activity in Apollo Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL)

At Q2’s end, a total of 31 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 15% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly.

Apollo Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL)Out of the hedge funds we follow, Yacktman Asset Management, managed by Donald Yacktman, holds the largest position in Apollo Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL). Yacktman Asset Management has a $135.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.6% of its 13F portfolio. On Yacktman Asset Management’s heels is Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick of First Pacific Advisors LLC, with a $69.7 million position; 0.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments, James Crichton and Adam Weiss’s Scout Capital Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Now, particular hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Yacktman Asset Management, managed by Donald Yacktman, assembled the largest position in Apollo Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL). Yacktman Asset Management had 135.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s First Pacific Advisors LLC also initiated a $69.7 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new APOL positions are John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments, James Crichton and Adam Weiss’s Scout Capital Management, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

How have insiders been trading Apollo Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL)?

Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, Apollo Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Apollo Group Inc (NASDAQ:APOL). These stocks are TAL Education Group (ADR) (NYSE:XRS), K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN), Grand Canyon Education Inc (NASDAQ:LOPE), The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO), and DeVry Inc. (NYSE:DV). All of these stocks are in the education & training services industry and their market caps are closest to APOL’s market cap.

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