Expedia Inc (EXPE): This Metric Is Shouting ‘Sell’

Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of methods investors can use to watch publicly traded companies. A pair of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a superb margin (see just how much).

Just as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the financial markets. There are plenty of incentives for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if you understand what to do (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a glance at the latest action encompassing Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE).

Hedge fund activity in Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE)

In preparation for this year, a total of 33 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -6% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the most valuable position in Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE), worth close to $151.1 million, comprising 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $142 million position; 0.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners and Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro’s PAR Capital Management.

Judging by the fact that Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) has witnessed a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, logic holds that there exists a select few fund managers who sold off their positions entirely heading into 2013. Interestingly, Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich’s Scopia Capital dropped the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we monitor, totaling about $86.9 million in stock.. Christopher Medlock James’s fund, Partner Fund Management, also dumped its stock, about $31.4 million worth. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds heading into 2013.

What have insiders been doing with Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time frame, Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 4 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 Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE). These stocks are Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR), Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc (NYSE:HOT), Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H), Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:WYN), and InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:IHG). This group of stocks belong to the lodging industry and their market caps are similar to EXPE’s market cap.

With the results shown by our studies, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds