Is ACE Limited (NYSE:ACE) a bargain? Hedge funds are selling. The number of bullish hedge fund positions fell by 12 recently.
To the average investor, there are tons of metrics shareholders can use to watch publicly traded companies. A pair of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can beat the S&P 500 by a superb margin (see just how much).
Just as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are many stimuli for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a glance at the key action regarding ACE Limited (NYSE:ACE).
How have hedgies been trading ACE Limited (NYSE:ACE)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 24 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -33% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.
Of the funds we track, Viking Global, managed by Andreas Halvorsen, holds the most valuable position in ACE Limited (NYSE:ACE). Viking Global has a $439 million position in the stock, comprising 3% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group, with a $235 million position; the fund has 0.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Russell Hawkins’s Hawkins Capital, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital.
Since ACE Limited (NYSE:ACE) has faced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there were a few hedge funds who were dropping their full holdings at the end of the year. Interestingly, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management sold off the biggest position of all the hedgies we key on, valued at an estimated $68 million in stock.. Jim Simons’s fund, Renaissance Technologies, also cut its stock, about $51 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 12 funds at the end of the year.
What have insiders been doing with ACE Limited (NYSE:ACE)?
Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time period, ACE Limited (NYSE:ACE) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s strategies, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and ACE Limited (NYSE:ACE) is an important part of this process.
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