Is AerCap Holdings N.V. (AER) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Is AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER) the right pick for your portfolio? The smart money is in a pessimistic mood. The number of bullish hedge fund positions went down by 2 lately.

At the moment, there are many gauges investors can use to monitor publicly traded companies. A pair of the most innovative 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 fund managers can beat their index-focused peers by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Equally as integral, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are lots of reasons for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a look at the latest action surrounding AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER).

How have hedgies been trading AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -11% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the largest position in AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER), worth close to $28.2 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Clifton S. Robbins of Blue Harbour Group, with a $22.9 million position; 2.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds with similar optimism include Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and James Dondero’s Highland Capital Management.

Judging by the fact that AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER) has experienced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of funds who were dropping their positions entirely last quarter. Interestingly, Stephen Feinberg’s Cerberus Capital Management said goodbye to the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we watch, worth close to $113.8 million in stock.. Anthony Bozza’s fund, Lakewood Capital Management, also sold off its stock, about $1.4 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds last quarter.

Insider trading activity in AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time period, AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER). These stocks are Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN), Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT), and Gencorp Inc (NYSE:GY). All of these stocks are in the aerospace/defense – major diversified industry and their market caps are closest to AER’s market cap.

With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER) is no exception.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds