If you have not already noticed by now, much of our lives require regular maintenance. Unfortunately many of us cannot escape many of life’s tasks such as running errands and paying bills. Many of us have regular doctor visits to make sure that we are keeping our bodies fit.

As investors we must also take the time to make sure that our investments are still in line with our goals and expectations. It wouldn’t be very smart to invest in something and to never check up on it. With so much information nowadays, investors have tons of information at their fingertips. So what are some things that investors should be looking for with regards to their stocks?

• Fundamentals. Investors should always be checking in on the fundamentals of a company. Every quarter investors have the opportunity to go over the earnings reports. In these reports, investors are able to see the type of direction a company is headed (for better or worse).

• Insider Trading: All over the world insiders of companies are buying and selling shares. While you shouldn’t base your entire investment decisions off of what insiders are doing, watching what they are doing can be very helpful. Peter Lynch said it best about Insider trading when he said, There’s no better tip-off to the probably success of a stock than people in the company putting their own money into it. Insider selling usually means nothing, and it’s silly to react to it. but there’s only one reason that insiders buy: They think the stock price is undervalued and will eventually go up .

• Institutional Holdings: Institutions, hedge funds and many other firms are required to update their holdings every quarter through a Form 13F. The Form 13F filings can offer some interesting insights, such as which stocks are being accumulated by institutional investors, and which stocks are being dropped.

Vringo

Many investors know Vringo (NASDAQ:VRNG ) because of its patent lawsuit against Google (NASDAQ:GOOG ). While the case against Google shines the brightest lights, Vringo has quietly been putting other pieces together. Here is what has taken place over the last little bit.

• July 2012. Vringo completed its merger with Innovate/Protect.

• August 2012. Vringo enters into a Patent Purchase Agreement with Nokia (NYSE:NOK ). Vringo receives a patent portfolio consisting of over 500 patents and patent applications worldwide.

• October 2012. Vringo files lawsuit against ZTE.

• November 2012. A jury ruled in favor of I/P Engine (Vringo) against Defendants with respect to Defendants’ infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,314,420 and 6,775,664. The jury found that reasonable royalty damages should be based on a running royalty, and that the running royalty rate should be 3.5%.

• April 2013. Vringo is added to the NASDAQ. Vringo is expanding its visibility to an even broader range of investors. This is a positive sign for investors as Vringo looks to show that it has transformed itself from a small speculative, micro-cap stock into a more broadly held and sound company.

• May 2013. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT ) reaches settlement with Vringo. The settlement shows the legitimacy of Vringo’s patents and what it has.

• June 2013. Vringo was added to the Russell Indexes.

• September 2013. Vringo files a patent infringement lawsuit against The ADT Corporation, ADT LLC, ADT Security Services, Inc. and Tyco Integrated Security.

Institutions Are Buying Vringo

Investors should know that institutions, hedge funds and many other firms are required to update their holdings every quarter. These filings can offer some interesting insights, such as which stocks are being accumulated and which stocks are being dropped. So what is taking place with Vringo?

Over the past year, Institutional activity in Vringo has slowly picked up. It was not that long ago that institutional ownership was in the 7%-8% range. In the last little bit this number has since doubled as Vringo has Institutional ownership up over 15%.

Watching what big money is buying and selling can be a good indicator for longs or shorts. With a number of teams and analysts at their disposal, institutions and large funds have access to data in which they are able to perform in-depth analyses to decide which investments can maximize their profits. Does this guarantee that they will make money? No. But it does greatly enhance the probability that they will make money and put themselves in a better position than most retail investors.

If Institutional investors are buying a stock, that can be an endorsement of sorts that a stock has great prospects. If they are selling, it could mean something is wrong. The fact that institutional investors are buying shares and building their positions in Vringo points to the fact that Vringo has evolved from a speculative patent litigation play and into a more solid institutional-ready investment.

Ownership Analysis