Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE:PTP) was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. PTP has seen a decrease in hedge fund interest recently. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with PTP holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In the financial world, there are plenty of indicators shareholders can use to track stocks. A couple of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can trounce the market by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. Obviously, there are many incentives for a bullish insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if investors know what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the recent action encompassing Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE:PTP).
What have hedge funds been doing with Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE:PTP)?
Heading into Q2, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the most valuable position in Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE:PTP), worth close to $34.4 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is David Dreman of Dreman Value Management, with a $29.9 million position; the fund has 0.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and John Thiessen’s Vertex One Asset Management.
Seeing as Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE:PTP) has witnessed a declination in interest from the smart money, we can see that there was a specific group of hedgies who sold off their entire stakes at the end of the first quarter. Interestingly, SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors said goodbye to the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we track, worth about $1.8 million in stock., and Steven Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $1.6 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
How have insiders been trading Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE:PTP)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE:PTP) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE:PTP). These stocks are Enstar Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESGR), Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH), MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI), Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR), and Radian Group Inc (NYSE:RDN). This group of stocks are in the property & casualty insurance industry and their market caps match PTP’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Enstar Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESGR) | 8 | 1 | 3 |
| Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:ENH) | 12 | 0 | 6 |
| MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) | 27 | 0 | 0 |
| Kemper Corporation (NYSE:KMPR) | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Radian Group Inc (NYSE:RDN) | 35 | 1 | 0 |
With the returns shown by our research, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE:PTP) is an important part of this process.
