The latest 13F reporting period has come and gone, and Insider Monkey is again at the forefront when it comes to making use of this gold mine of data. We at Insider Monkey have plowed through 873 13F filings that hedge funds and well-known value investors are required to file by the SEC. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of June 30th. In this article we look at what those investors think of The Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE:BX).
The Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE:BX) has experienced an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately. The Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE:BX) was in 54 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of June. The all time high for this statistic is 54. This means the bullish number of hedge fund positions in this stock currently sits at its all time high. Our calculations also showed that BX isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q2 rankings).
Hedge funds’ reputation as shrewd investors has been tarnished in the last decade as their hedged returns couldn’t keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. Hedge funds have more than $3.5 trillion in assets under management, so you can’t expect their entire portfolios to beat the market by large margins. Our research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 79 percentage points since March 2017 (see the details here). So you can still find a lot of gems by following hedge funds’ moves today.
Tom Gayner of Markel Gayner Asset Management
At Insider Monkey, we scour multiple sources to uncover the next great investment idea. For example, billionaire John Paulson is loading up on the miners, so we are checking out stock pitches like this mining stock. We go through lists like the 10 best EV stocks to pick the next Tesla that will deliver a 10x return. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our homepage. Keeping this in mind we’re going to take a look at the recent hedge fund action surrounding The Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE:BX).
Do Hedge Funds Think BX Is A Good Stock To Buy Now?
At Q2’s end, a total of 54 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 10% from one quarter earlier. By comparison, 47 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in BX a year ago. So, let’s examine which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds, GQG Partners held the most valuable stake in The Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE:BX), which was worth $472.3 million at the end of the second quarter. On the second spot was Farallon Capital which amassed $283.8 million worth of shares. Cryder Capital, Millennium Management, and Markel Gayner Asset Management were also very fond of the stock, becoming one of the largest hedge fund holders of the company. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Arrow Capital Management allocated the biggest weight to The Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE:BX), around 16.99% of its 13F portfolio. Cryder Capital is also relatively very bullish on the stock, earmarking 12.09 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to BX.
As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers have jumped into The Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE:BX) headfirst. Balyasny Asset Management, managed by Dmitry Balyasny, established the most valuable position in The Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE:BX). Balyasny Asset Management had $32.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors also initiated a $5.3 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are James Dinan’s York Capital Management, Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management, and Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to The Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE:BX). We will take a look at HCA Healthcare Inc (NYSE:HCA), ABB Ltd (NYSE:ABB), Twilio Inc. (NYSE:TWLO), Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO), Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN), VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), and Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE). This group of stocks’ market values resemble BX’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| HCA | 60 | 2695782 | -2 |
| ABB | 15 | 658036 | 4 |
| TWLO | 98 | 7891057 | -1 |
| MCO | 44 | 16046255 | -11 |
| SAN | 17 | 566333 | 2 |
| VMW | 28 | 819778 | 3 |
| ICE | 47 | 2946268 | -11 |
| Average | 44.1 | 4517644 | -2.3 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 44.1 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $4518 million. That figure was $2080 million in BX’s case. Twilio Inc. (NYSE:TWLO) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand ABB Ltd (NYSE:ABB) is the least popular one with only 15 bullish hedge fund positions. The Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE:BX) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for BX is 63.5. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. Our calculations showed that top 5 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 95.8% in 2019 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 40 percentage points. These stocks gained 29.6% in 2021 through November 5th and still beat the market by 3.1 percentage points. Hedge funds were also right about betting on BX as the stock returned 48.8% since the end of Q2 (through 11/5) and outperformed the market. Hedge funds were rewarded for their relative bullishness.
Follow Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)
Follow Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)
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Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
