Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR) has seen a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months.
At the moment, there are plenty of metrics market participants can use to track their holdings. A duo of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can outpace the broader indices by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Equally as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are many motivations for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).
Now, let’s take a gander at the latest action encompassing Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR).
How are hedge funds trading Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -36% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
According to our comprehensive database, John Paulson’s Paulson & Co had the biggest position in Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR), worth close to $85.6 million, comprising 0.5% of its total 13F portfolio. On Paulson & Co’s heels is George Soros of Soros Fund Management, with a $18.5 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers with similar optimism include Howard Marks’s Oaktree Capital Management, Joshua Friedman and Mitchell Julis’s Canyon Capital Advisors and Curtis Schenker and Craig Effron’s Scoggin.
Due to the fact that Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR) has faced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there is a sect of hedge funds who were dropping their full holdings in Q4. At the top of the heap, Steven Tananbaum’s GoldenTree Asset Management cut the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we track, comprising about $4.7 million in stock.. Carl Tiedemann and Michael Tiedemann’s fund, TIG Advisors, also said goodbye to its stock, about $0.7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 5 funds in Q4.
How are insiders trading Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR)?
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR). These stocks are Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc (NYSE:PNK), Ameristar Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASCA), Penn National Gaming, Inc (NASDAQ:PENN), Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (NYSE:VAC), and Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN). This group of stocks are the members of the resorts & casinos industry and their market caps are closest to CZR’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc (NYSE:PNK) | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| Ameristar Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASCA) | 26 | 0 | 1 |
| Penn National Gaming, Inc (NASDAQ:PENN) | 28 | 3 | 7 |
| Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (NYSE:VAC) | 15 | 1 | 5 |
| Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
With the results shown by the aforementioned tactics, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR) is an important part of this process.
