Is US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE:LCC) a healthy stock for your portfolio? Hedge funds are in a bullish mood. The number of bullish hedge fund bets improved by 2 lately.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of indicators investors can use to track the equity markets. Two of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a significant amount (see just how much).
Just as important, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are a number of motivations for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Many academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if you understand what to do (learn more here).
Consequently, we’re going to take a look at the latest action encompassing US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE:LCC).
How have hedgies been trading US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE:LCC)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 33 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 6% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.
When looking at the hedgies we track, BlueCrest Capital Mgmt., managed by Michael Platt and William Reeves, holds the most valuable position in US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE:LCC). BlueCrest Capital Mgmt. has a $338 million billion call position in the stock, comprising 50.5% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Appaloosa Management LP, managed by David Tepper, which held a $163 million position; the fund has 3.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Capital, George Soros’s Soros Fund Management and Douglas Dillard Jr. and Raj D. Venkatesan’s Standard Pacific Capital.
As aggregate interest increased, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Duquesne Capital, managed by Stanley Druckenmiller, established the most valuable position in US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE:LCC). Duquesne Capital had 54 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. also made a $47 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new LCC investors: Randall Smith’s Alden Global Capital, Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management, and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
How are insiders trading US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE:LCC)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE:LCC) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns demonstrated by our tactics, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE:LCC) is an important part of this process.
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