Rio Tinto plc (ADR) (NYSE:RIO) was in 9 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. RIO has seen a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months. There were 16 hedge funds in our database with RIO positions at the end of the previous quarter.
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Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. There are a variety of motivations for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if you understand where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action surrounding Rio Tinto plc (ADR) (NYSE:RIO).
What have hedge funds been doing with Rio Tinto plc (ADR) (NYSE:RIO)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -44% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, holds the largest position in Rio Tinto plc (ADR) (NYSE:RIO). Fisher Asset Management has a $451.3 million position in the stock, comprising 1.3% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Russell Hawkins of Hawkins Capital, with a $17.8 million position; the fund has 2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds with similar optimism include Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital.
How are insiders trading Rio Tinto plc (ADR) (NYSE:RIO)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, Rio Tinto plc (ADR) (NYSE:RIO) 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 Rio Tinto plc (ADR) (NYSE:RIO). These stocks are Cameco Corporation (USA) (NYSE:CCJ), Teck Resources Ltd (USA) (NYSE:TCK), BHP Billiton Limited (ADR) (NYSE:BHP), BHP Billiton plc (ADR) (NYSE:BBL), and Vale SA (ADR) (NYSE:VALE). This group of stocks are the members of the industrial metals & minerals industry and their market caps are similar to RIO’s market cap.
