The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) was in 56 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. BA has experienced an increase in hedge fund sentiment recently. There were 44 hedge funds in our database with BA holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
If you’d ask most traders, hedge funds are perceived as underperforming, old investment tools of yesteryear. While there are over 8000 funds with their doors open today, we at Insider Monkey look at the bigwigs of this club, close to 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group controls most of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by paying attention to their highest performing equity investments, we have deciphered a few investment strategies that have historically outpaced Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have topped the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).
Equally as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of reasons for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action encompassing The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA).
What does the smart money think about The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)?
Heading into Q2, a total of 56 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 27% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Viking Global, managed by Andreas Halvorsen, holds the largest position in The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA). Viking Global has a $1.0624 billion position in the stock, comprising 6.4% of its 13F portfolio. On Viking Global’s heels is Senator Investment Group, managed by Doug Silverman and Alexander Klabin, which held a $407.8 million call position; the fund has 4.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management and Edgar Wachenheim’s Greenhaven Associates.
As industrywide interest jumped, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Viking Global, managed by Andreas Halvorsen, assembled the biggest position in The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA). Viking Global had 1.0624 billion invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners also made a $133.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new BA positions are Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, John Lykouretzos’s Hoplite Capital Management, and Jeffrey Altman’s Owl Creek Asset Management.
How have insiders been trading The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)?
Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA). These stocks are TransDigm Group Incorporated (NYSE:TDG), Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE:COL), General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD), Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT), and United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX). This group of stocks are in the aerospace/defense products & services industry and their market caps match BA’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| TransDigm Group Incorporated (NYSE:TDG) | 39 | 1 | 5 |
| Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE:COL) | 19 | 0 | 12 |
| General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) | 48 | 1 | 11 |
| Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) | 32 | 0 | 6 |
| United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) | 43 | 0 | 13 |
With the results shown by the aforementioned research, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
