We at Insider Monkey have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the SEC. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30th. In this article, we look at what those investors think of Liberty Global Plc (NASDAQ:LBTYK).
Liberty Global Plc (NASDAQ:LBTYK) was in 41 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2018. LBTYK shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately. There were 40 hedge funds in our database with LBTYK holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that LBTYK isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the financial world, there are a large number of tools investors have at their disposal to grade stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar tools are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a solid amount. Insider Monkey’s flagship best performing hedge funds strategy returned 6.3% year to date (through December 3rd) and outperformed the market even though it draws its stock picks among small-cap stocks. This strategy also outperformed the market by 18 percentage points since its inception (see the details here). That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is a useful indicator that investors should pay attention to.
Boykin Curry of Eagle Capital
We’re going to take a glance at the recent hedge fund action surrounding Liberty Global Plc (NASDAQ:LBTYK).
How have hedgies been trading Liberty Global Plc (NASDAQ:LBTYK)?
At Q3’s end, a total of 41 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 3% from the second quarter of 2018. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with a bullish position in LBTYK over the last 13 quarters. So, let’s review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
More specifically, Eagle Capital Management was the largest shareholder of Liberty Global Plc (NASDAQ:LBTYK), with a stake worth $1100.5 million reported as of the end of September. Trailing Eagle Capital Management was SPO Advisory Corp, which amassed a stake valued at $459.9 million. Baupost Group, Berkshire Hathaway, and Farallon Capital were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
As one would reasonably expect, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Baupost Group, managed by Seth Klarman, established the most outsized position in Liberty Global Plc (NASDAQ:LBTYK). Baupost Group had $303.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Scott Wallace’s Wallace Capital Management also made a $30 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Thomas Bailard’s Bailard Inc, Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management, and Frederick DiSanto’s Ancora Advisors.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Liberty Global Plc (NASDAQ:LBTYK). These stocks are IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX), CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS), Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), and Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to LBTYK’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| IDXX | 35 | 1184985 | 2 |
| CBS | 45 | 1341366 | 6 |
| TWTR | 42 | 1074408 | 2 |
| LULU | 45 | 1651249 | 4 |
| Average | 41.75 | 1313 | 3.5 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 41.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1313 million. That figure was $3980 million in LBTYK’s case. CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) is the least popular one with only 35 bullish hedge fund positions. Liberty Global Plc (NASDAQ:LBTYK) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard, CBS might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
