CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI) was in 42 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. CI investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 41 hedge funds in our database with CI positions at the end of the previous quarter.
According to most investors, hedge funds are assumed to be underperforming, outdated financial vehicles of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation today, we hone in on the top tier of this group, about 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group has its hands on most of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by monitoring their highest performing investments, we have deciphered a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have beaten the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).
Just as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of stimuli for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if investors know where to look (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a glance at the key action regarding CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI).
How are hedge funds trading CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 42 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 2% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Greenlight Capital, managed by David Einhorn, holds the biggest position in CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI). Greenlight Capital has a $510.6 million position in the stock, comprising 7.8% of its 13F portfolio. On Greenlight Capital’s heels is Glenview Capital, managed by Larry Robbins, which held a $241.5 million position; 2.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Jeffrey Tannenbaum’s Fir Tree, Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management and Steven Richman’s East Side Capital (RR Partners).
Now, key money managers have jumped into CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI) headfirst. Clough Capital Partners, managed by Charles Clough, established the most outsized position in CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI). Clough Capital Partners had 15.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Harding’s Winton Capital Management also made a $4.9 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new CI positions are Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital, Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors, and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.
Insider trading activity in CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI)
Insider buying is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time period, CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI). These stocks are Coventry Health Care, Inc. (NYSE:CVH), Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX), Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM), WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE:WLP), and Aetna Inc. (NYSE:AET). This group of stocks belong to the health care plans industry and their market caps resemble CI’s market cap.
