Is HCA Holdings Inc (HCA) A Good Stock To Buy?

Hedge fund activity in HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA)

Heading into 2016, a total of 67 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -6% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Larry Robbins’ Glenview Capital has the largest position in HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA), worth close to $967.1 million, corresponding to 5.4% of its total 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors, with a $402.8 million position; the fund has 3.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other members of the smart money that hold long positions consist of Jeffrey Tannenbaum’s Fir Tree, David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management LP and Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management.

Due to the fact that HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA) has faced a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of fund managers who sold off their positions entirely during the fourth quarter. At the top of the heap, John Paulson’s Paulson & Co said goodbye to the biggest position of the 700 funds tracked by Insider Monkey, worth close to $364.5 million in stock, and Jeffrey Gates’ Gates Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $101.9 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by four funds heading into 2016.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Imperial Oil Limited (USA) (NYSEAMEX:IMO), Korea Electric Power Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:KEP), State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT), and American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble HCA’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 30 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $787 million. That figure was $3.82 billion in HCA’s case. American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Imperial Oil Limited (USA) (NYSEAMEX:IMO) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard AAL might be a better candidate to consider a long position.