Now, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Citadel Investment Group, led by Ken Griffin, established the most valuable call position in Sothebys (NYSE:BID). Citadel Investment Group had $5.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $3.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new BID investors: Neil Chriss’ Hutchin Hill Capital, Andrew Feldstein and Stephen Siderow’s Blue Mountain Capital, and Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Sothebys (NYSE:BID) but similarly valued. These stocks are Shutterstock Inc (NYSE:SSTK), American States Water Co (NYSE:AWR), bluebird bio Inc (NASDAQ:BLUE), and Seadrill Ltd (NYSE:SDRL). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to BID’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSTK | 9 | 36834 | 2 |
| AWR | 8 | 42205 | 0 |
| BLUE | 24 | 283372 | 3 |
| SDRL | 18 | 33658 | 1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 15 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $99 million. That figure was $559 million in BID’s case. bluebird bio Inc (NASDAQ:BLUE) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand American States Water Co (NYSE:AWR) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Sothebys (NYSE:BID) 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 BLUE might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.
Disclosure: None
