This Metric Says You Are Smart to Buy Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL)

Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) was in 26 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. CCL has experienced an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently. There were 21 hedge funds in our database with CCL positions at the end of the previous quarter.

In the financial world, there are tons of methods shareholders can use to track the equity markets. Two of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are a number of reasons for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action encompassing Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL).

How have hedgies been trading Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 26 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 24% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Edinburgh Partners, managed by Sandy Nairn, holds the biggest position in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL). Edinburgh Partners has a $173 million position in the stock, comprising 9.8% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Kerr Neilson of Platinum Asset Management, with a $96 million position; the fund has 2.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Michael Hintze’s CQS Cayman LP and James Dinan’s York Capital Management.

Consequently, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Edinburgh Partners, managed by Sandy Nairn, created the most valuable position in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL). Edinburgh Partners had 173 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Michael Hintze’s CQS Cayman LP also initiated a $40 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, John Fichthorn’s Dialectic Capital Management, and Jeffrey Vinik’s Vinik Asset Management.

Insider trading activity in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 11 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results exhibited by Insider Monkey’s tactics, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) is an important part of this process.

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