Is J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) a buy right now? Money managers are turning less bullish. The number of long hedge fund positions were trimmed by 4 recently.
In the financial world, there are tons of methods market participants can use to track their holdings. A pair of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a solid amount (see just how much).
Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are a number of reasons for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a look at the key action surrounding J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT).
How are hedge funds trading J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -27% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Lone Pine Capital, managed by Stephen Mandel, holds the most valuable position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT). Lone Pine Capital has a $224 million position in the stock, comprising 1.4% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Andrew Sandler of Sandler Capital Management, with a $27 million position; 0% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Robert Jaffe’s Force Capital.
Seeing as J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers who sold off their full holdings heading into 2013. It’s worth mentioning that Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management said goodbye to the largest stake of the 450+ funds we watch, valued at close to $5 million in stock.. Jim Simons’s fund, Renaissance Technologies, also said goodbye to its stock, about $2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds heading into 2013.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)?
Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time period, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) has experienced 2 unique insiders purchasing, and 10 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT). These stocks are Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN), Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW), Swift Transportation Co (NYSE:SWFT), Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR), and Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL). All of these stocks are in the trucking industry and their market caps are similar to JBHT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WERN) | 20 | 0 | 3 |
| Con-way Inc (NYSE:CNW) | 14 | 0 | 7 |
| Swift Transportation Co (NYSE:SWFT) | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) | 15 | 0 | 3 |
| Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) | 13 | 0 | 2 |
With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned research, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) applies perfectly to this mantra.
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