Is First Republic Bank (FRC) A Good Stock To Buy?

Because First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) has faced a declination in interest from the smart money, logic holds that there were a few hedgies that slashed their positions entirely heading into Q4. Intriguingly, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management said goodbye to the largest stake of the “upper crust” of funds tracked by Insider Monkey, comprising close to $6 million in stock, and Dmitry Balyasny of Balyasny Asset Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $4.3 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 7 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC). These stocks are UDR, Inc. (NYSE:UDR), Expeditors International of Washington (NASDAQ:EXPD), Cheniere Energy Partners LP (NYSEAMEX:CQP), and Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:CTRP). This group of stocks’ market caps resemble FRC’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 21.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $721 million.That figure was $362 millions in FRC’s case. Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:CTRP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Cheniere Energy Partners LP (NYSEAMEX:CQP) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard CTRP might be a better candidate to consider a long position.