Here is What Hedge Funds Think About News Corp (NWS)

Is News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS) a buy, sell, or hold? Hedge funds are in an optimistic mood. The number of long hedge fund positions advanced by 1 in recent months.

In today’s marketplace, there are tons of metrics investors can use to watch the equity markets. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can trounce the broader indices by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are lots of stimuli for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if investors understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a gander at the latest action encompassing News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS).

How are hedge funds trading News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 26 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 4% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.

Of the funds we track, Paul Singer’s Elliott Management had the biggest position in News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS), worth close to $310.4 million, accounting for 6.5% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is D. E. Shaw of D E Shaw, with a $146.1 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Michael Hintze’s CQS Cayman LP, Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group and William B. Gray’s Orbis Investment Management.

As aggregate interest increased, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Adage Capital Management, managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, assembled the most outsized position in News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS). Adage Capital Management had 9.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Christian Leone’s Luxor Capital Group also initiated a $7.8 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new NWS investors: James Pallotta’s Raptor Capital Management, Daniel Arbess’s Xerion, and Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management.

What have insiders been doing with News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS). These stocks are Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:LYV), Starz (NASDAQ:STRZA), The Madison Square Garden Co (NASDAQ:MSG), The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), and Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX). All of these stocks are in the entertainment – diversified industry and their market caps are closest to NWS’s market cap.