At Insider Monkey, we pore over the filings of more than 700 top investment firms every quarter, a process we have now completed for the latest reporting period. The data we’ve gathered as a result gives us access to a wealth of collective knowledge based on these firms’ portfolio holdings as of September 30. In this article, we will use that wealth of knowledge to determine whether or not Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOXA) makes for a good investment right now.
Twenty-First Century Fox was in 56 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. FOXA investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund interest recently. There were 57 hedge funds in our database with FOXA positions at the end of the previous quarter. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), T MOBILE US INC (NYSE:TMUS), and Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) to gather more data points.
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In the financial world, there are several signals stock traders can use to evaluate their holdings. A duo of the less known signals are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best investment managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a superb amount (see the details here).
With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a look at the recent action regarding Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOXA).
How are hedge funds trading Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOXA)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 56 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of -2% from the second quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Yacktman Asset Management, managed by Donald Yacktman, holds the most valuable position in Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOXA). Yacktman Asset Management has a $1.0957 billion position in the stock, comprising 7.2% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Luxor Capital Group, managed by Christian Leone, which holds a $304.5 million position; 7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other professional money managers that hold long positions comprise Boykin Curry’s Eagle Capital Management, Anand Desai’s Darsana Capital Partners and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
Seeing as Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOXA) has experienced falling interest from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of hedgies that slashed their entire stakes last quarter. Intriguingly, Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global sold off the biggest stake of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, comprising an estimated $263.4 million in stock, and Doug Silverman and Alexander Klabin of Senator Investment Group was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $211.5 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds last quarter.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOXA) but similarly valued. These stocks are Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), T MOBILE US INC (NYSE:TMUS), Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL), and Ericsson (ADR) (NASDAQ:ERIC). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to FOXA’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| NOC | 37 | 1985310 | 5 |
| TMUS | 54 | 3199501 | -15 |
| ECL | 26 | 2136599 | 3 |
| ERIC | 11 | 48510 | -1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 32 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1.84 billion. By comparison, hedge funds amassed stakes worth $4.04 billion in aggregate, in FOXA’s case. T MOBILE US INC (NYSE:TMUS) is the most popular stock in this table with 54 long positions and Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOXA) is even more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.
