Should Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV) investors track the following data?
To the average investor, there are dozens of indicators investors can use to watch stocks. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can beat the broader indices by a significant amount (see just how much).
Just as crucial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to analyze the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of motivations for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).
Now that that’s out of the way, it’s important to discuss the newest info surrounding Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV).
What does the smart money think about Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV)?
At the end of the second quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 29% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, James Melcher’s Balestra had the most valuable position in Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV), worth close to $15.4 million, accounting for 4.2% of its total 13F portfolio. On Balestra’s heels is Pine River Capital Management, managed by Brian Taylor, which held a $14 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers with similar optimism include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
Consequently, specific money managers have jumped into Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV) headfirst. Balestra, managed by James Melcher, initiated the biggest position in Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV). Balestra had 15.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management also initiated a $14 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Michael Johnston’s Steelhead Partners, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
How are insiders trading Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV)?
Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV) 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 Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:AINV). These stocks are Tile Shop Hldgs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTS), Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE:APO), Solar Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLRC), Main Street Capital Corporation (NYSE:MAIN), and A.F.P Provida SA (ADR) (NYSE:PVD). This group of stocks are the members of the diversified investments industry and their market caps match AINV’s market cap.