Here is What Hedge Funds Think About SVB Financial Group (SIVB)

Is SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) a good investment?

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of metrics shareholders can use to track the equity markets. Two of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can beat their index-focused peers by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as useful, bullish insider trading activity is another way to analyze the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are many motivations for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if investors understand what to do (learn more here).

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s study the recent info for SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB).

How have hedgies been trading SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB)?

Heading into Q3, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -8% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

According to our 13F database, Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, holds the biggest position in SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB). Fisher Asset Management has a $123 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Samlyn Capital, managed by Robert Pohly, which held a $54.9 million position; 1.6% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, and Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management.

Because SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) has faced a fall in interest from upper-tier hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of funds who were dropping their entire stakes heading into Q2. It’s worth mentioning that Daniel Lascano’s Lomas Capital Management dropped the biggest investment of all the hedgies we track, valued at close to $3.2 million in stock, and Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $1.6 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds heading into Q2.

How are insiders trading SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB)?

Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) has experienced 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 SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB). These stocks are Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY), Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION), Bank of Hawaii Corporation (NYSE:BOH), East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC), and City National Corp (NYSE:CYN). This group of stocks belong to the regional – pacific banks industry and their market caps are closest to SIVB’s market cap.