To many market players, hedge funds are assumed to be bloated, outdated investment vehicles of a period lost to current times. Although there are In excess of 8,000 hedge funds with their doors open currently, Insider Monkey looks at the elite of this club, close to 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group oversees most of the smart money’s total assets, and by watching their highest quality equity investments, we’ve brought to light a few investment strategies that have historically beaten the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (find the details here).
Equally as key, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to analyze the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are lots of incentives for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).
Furthermore, we’re going to discuss the recent info for Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA).
What does the smart money think about Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA)?
In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -9% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.
Because Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA) has faced declining interest from the smart money’s best and brightest, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few funds that elected to cut their positions entirely in Q1. At the top of the heap, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates sold off the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, worth close to $10.2 million in stock, and Michael Messner of Seminole Capital (Investment Mgmt) was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $2.7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds in Q1.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA)?
Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA). These stocks are Oneok Partners LP (NYSE:OKS), Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB), Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE:ETP), Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE), and Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE:SE). This group of stocks belong to the oil & gas pipelines industry and their market caps match PAA’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Oneok Partners LP (NYSE:OKS) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) | 44 | 0 | 0 |
| Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE:ETP) | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE) | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE:SE) | 22 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns shown by the previously mentioned analyses, average investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA) is no exception.
