In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of indicators market participants can use to watch Mr. Market. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can outclass the broader indices by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as key, bullish insider trading activity is another way to look at the world of equities. There are a number of reasons for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s discuss the newest info for Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION).
How have hedgies been trading Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION)?
Heading into Q3, a total of 27 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 17% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the biggest position in Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION), worth close to $36.6 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Citadel Investment Group’s heels is Matthew Hulsizer of PEAK6 Capital Management, with a $31.5 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Nick Niell’s Arrowgrass Capital Partners and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
As industrywide interest increased, certain bigger names have been driving this bullishness. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, initiated the biggest position in Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION). Citadel Investment Group had 36.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management also initiated a $31.5 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new ZION investors: Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Nick Niell’s Arrowgrass Capital Partners, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
What have insiders been doing with Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION)?
Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time frame, Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION). These stocks are Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY), Bank of Hawaii Corporation (NYSE:BOH), City National Corp (NYSE:CYN), SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB), and East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC). This group of stocks belong to the regional – pacific banks industry and their market caps match ZION’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Bank of Hawaii Corporation (NYSE:BOH) | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| City National Corp (NYSE:CYN) | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
Using the results shown by the previously mentioned analyses, regular investors must always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) is an important part of this process.
