Hedge Funds Are Betting On Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (BPFH)

Is Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH) a buy, sell, or hold? The smart money is taking a bullish view. The number of bullish hedge fund positions increased by 3 recently.

At the moment, there are a multitude of methods investors can use to monitor Mr. Market. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can outclass the market by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as integral, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the marketplace. There are plenty of reasons for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if investors know where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, let’s take a peek at the key action surrounding Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH).

Hedge fund activity in Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH)

At Q1’s end, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 19% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the most valuable position in Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH). Royce & Associates has a $13.7 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Matthew Hulsizer of PEAK6 Capital Management, with a $3.3 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital.

As industrywide interest jumped, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Basswood Capital, managed by Matthew Lindenbaum, created the most outsized position in Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH). Basswood Capital had 1.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also made a $1.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new BPFH positions are Thomas E. Claugus’s GMT Capital, Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

How are insiders trading Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH)?

Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time period, Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH) has seen 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH). These stocks are Oritani Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:ORIT), Independent Bank Corp (NASDAQ:INDB), Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL), and NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB). This group of stocks belong to the regional – northeast banks industry and their market caps match BPFH’s market cap.