At the moment, there are plenty of indicators market participants can use to analyze their holdings. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can outperform the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).
Just as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the financial markets. Obviously, there are many motivations for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if you understand what to do (learn more here).
Now that that’s out of the way, we’re going to study the latest info surrounding Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCBK).
What have hedge funds been doing with Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCBK)?
At Q2’s end, a total of 25 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 4% 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 boosting their stakes considerably.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, Alpine Associates, managed by Robert Emil Zoellner, holds the biggest position in Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCBK). Alpine Associates has a $161.9 million position in the stock, comprising 6.5% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management, with a $140.8 million position; 0.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include Jane Mendillo’s Harvard Management Co, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.
As industrywide interest increased, certain money managers have jumped into Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCBK) headfirst. Alpine Associates, managed by Robert Emil Zoellner, established the most valuable position in Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCBK). Alpine Associates had 161.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management also initiated a $140.8 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new HCBK investors: Jane Mendillo’s Harvard Management Co, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.
Insider trading activity in Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCBK)
Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCBK) has seen zero unique insiders buying, 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 Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCBK). These stocks are Investors Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISBC), First Niagara Financial Group Inc. (NASDAQ:FNFG), New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NYCB), Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE:OCN), and People’s United Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBCT). This group of stocks are in the savings & loans industry and their market caps match HCBK’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Investors Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISBC) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| First Niagara Financial Group Inc. (NASDAQ:FNFG) | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NYCB) | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE:OCN) | 41 | 0 | 0 |
| People’s United Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBCT) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s analyses, regular investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCBK) is an important part of this process.
