SVB Financial Group (SIVB): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Is SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) a buy here? Hedge funds are selling. The number of long hedge fund positions shrunk by 5 recently.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of gauges investors can use to watch the equity markets. A duo of the most under-the-radar 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 investment managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are plenty of incentives for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a gander at the latest action regarding SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB).

How have hedgies been trading SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -29% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had the largest position in SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB), worth close to $104.4 million, comprising 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Samlyn Capital, managed by Robert Pohly, which held a $43.8 million position; 1.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, John Brennan’s Sirios Capital Management and Daniel Lascano’s Lomas Capital Management.

Seeing as SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) has witnessed a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there were a few money managers that elected to cut their full holdings heading into Q2. It’s worth mentioning that Jeffrey Vinik’s Vinik Asset Management said goodbye to the largest investment of all the hedgies we key on, valued at an estimated $12.9 million in stock.. Neil Chriss’s fund, Hutchin Hill Capital, also dropped its stock, about $6.3 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 5 funds heading into Q2.

Insider trading activity in SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 11 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB). These stocks are Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY), Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION), Bank of Hawaii Corporation (NYSE:BOH), East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC), and City National Corp (NYSE:CYN). This group of stocks are the members of the regional – pacific banks industry and their market caps are similar to SIVB’s market cap.