Should You Avoid Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (SBRA)?

Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (NASDAQ:SBRA) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of metrics shareholders can use to watch publicly traded companies. A couple of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top fund managers can outclass the market by a superb amount (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the world of equities. There are plenty of incentives for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a peek at the key action surrounding Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (NASDAQ:SBRA).

How are hedge funds trading Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (NASDAQ:SBRA)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -40% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, Forward Management, managed by J. Alan Reid, Jr., holds the biggest position in Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (NASDAQ:SBRA). Forward Management has a $24.7 million position in the stock, comprising 1.5% of its 13F portfolio. On Forward Management’s heels is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $9.8 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management and Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital.

Since Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (NASDAQ:SBRA) has experienced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, we can see that there exists a select few fund managers that elected to cut their entire stakes at the end of the first quarter. Intriguingly, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors sold off the largest investment of all the hedgies we key on, comprising about $1.4 million in stock., and Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $1.2 million worth. These moves are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds at the end of the first quarter.

Insider trading activity in Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (NASDAQ:SBRA)

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (NASDAQ:SBRA) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (NASDAQ:SBRA). These stocks are Healthcare Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:HR), Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW), National Health Investors Inc (NYSE:NHI), and LTC Properties Inc (NYSE:LTC). All of these stocks are in the reit – healthcare facilities industry and their market caps are similar to SBRA’s market cap.

With the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s studies, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Sabra Health Care REIT Inc (NASDAQ:SBRA) is an important part of this process.

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