JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) was in 93 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. JPM has experienced a decrease in hedge fund sentiment in recent months. There were 97 hedge funds in our database with JPM positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In today’s marketplace, there are plenty of indicators market participants can use to analyze the equity markets. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a significant margin (see just how much).
Just as key, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of incentives for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the key action surrounding JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM).
How have hedgies been trading JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 93 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -4% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, Lansdowne Partners, managed by Paul Ruddockáand Steve Heinz, holds the biggest position in JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM). Lansdowne Partners has a $864 million position in the stock, comprising 14.4% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management, with a $526 million position; 2.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds that hold long positions include Jonathon Jacobson’s Highfields Capital Management, and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.
Seeing as JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) has experienced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there was a specific group of hedgies who were dropping their entire stakes heading into 2013. It’s worth mentioning that Kenneth Mario Garschina’s Mason Capital Management said goodbye to the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, valued at an estimated $327 million in stock., and Richard Schimel of Diamondback Capital was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $56 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds heading into 2013.
How are insiders trading JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results exhibited by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) is an important part of this process.
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