Willis Group Holdings PLC (WSH): Insiders Aren’t Crazy About It

Willis Group Holdings PLC (NYSE:WSH) was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. WSH investors should pay attention to an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently. There were 18 hedge funds in our database with WSH positions at the end of the previous quarter.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many gauges shareholders can use to track stocks. Some of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can outperform the broader indices by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are many stimuli for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if you understand what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a peek at the key action encompassing Willis Group Holdings PLC (NYSE:WSH).

What have hedge funds been doing with Willis Group Holdings PLC (NYSE:WSH)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 6% from the previous quarter.

Now, key hedge funds have jumped into Willis Group Holdings PLC (NYSE:WSH) headfirst. Fir Tree, managed by Jeffrey Tannenbaum, created the most outsized position in Willis Group Holdings PLC (NYSE:WSH). Fir Tree had 60.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Michael Karsch’s Karsch Capital Management also initiated a $18 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Leighton Welch’s Welch Capital Partners.

How have insiders been trading Willis Group Holdings PLC (NYSE:WSH)?

Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time period, Willis Group Holdings PLC (NYSE:WSH) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 13 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Willis Group Holdings PLC (NYSE:WSH). These stocks are Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC), Aon PLC (NYSE:AON), Erie Indemnity Company (NASDAQ:ERIE), Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO), and Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG). This group of stocks are the members of the insurance brokers industry and their market caps resemble WSH’s market cap.

With the results shown by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Willis Group Holdings PLC (NYSE:WSH) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds