Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) was in 21 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. EXPR investors should pay attention to a decrease in hedge fund sentiment lately. There were 21 hedge funds in our database with EXPR holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of gauges market participants can use to analyze the equity markets. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a solid amount (see just how much).
Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the financial markets. There are many stimuli for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if investors understand what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a peek at the key action regarding Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR).
Hedge fund activity in Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR)
At year’s end, a total of 21 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.
Of the funds we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the most valuable position in Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR). Renaissance Technologies has a $16 million position in the stock, comprising 0% of its 13F portfolio. On Renaissance Technologies’s heels is Joel Greenblatt of Gotham Asset Management, with a $14 million position; the fund has 0.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Steven Tananbaum’s GoldenTree Asset Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.
Seeing as Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) has witnessed falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few hedge funds that decided to sell off their full holdings last quarter. Interestingly, John Fichthorn’s Dialectic Capital Management cut the biggest position of the 450+ funds we track, valued at an estimated $3 million in stock.. Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s fund, Algert Coldiron Investors, also dropped its stock, about $2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
What have insiders been doing with Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned tactics, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) is no exception.
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