What Hedge Funds Think About UBS AG (USA) (UBS)

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of methods shareholders can use to analyze the equity markets. A couple of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a solid margin (see just how much).

Equally as useful, positive insider trading activity is a second way to look at the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are many reasons for a corporate insider to downsize 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 method if you know what to do (learn more here).

Thus, it’s important to examine the recent info for UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS).

How have hedgies been trading UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS)?

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 23% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Richard S. Pzena’s Pzena Investment Management had the largest position in UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS), worth close to $252.8 million, accounting for 1.7% of its total 13F portfolio. On Pzena Investment Management’s heels is McKinley Capital Management, managed by Robert B. Gillam, which held a $20.4 million position; the fund has 1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include Crispin Odey’s Odey Asset Management Group, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

With a general bullishness amongst the titans, particular hedge funds have jumped into UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS) headfirst. Pzena Investment Management, managed by Richard S. Pzena, initiated the biggest position in UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS). Pzena Investment Management had 252.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management also initiated a $20.4 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new UBS positions are Crispin Odey’s Odey Asset Management Group, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS). These stocks are Itau Unibanco Holding SA (ADR) (NYSE:ITUB), Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:RBS), Banco Santander, S.A. (ADR) (NYSE:SAN), Lloyds Banking Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:LYG), and Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS). This group of stocks belong to the foreign money center banks industry and their market caps are closest to UBS’s market cap.

Using the returns explained by our strategies, average investors should always track hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and UBS AG (USA) (NYSE:UBS) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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