Hedge Funds Are Betting On Liberty Media Corp (LMCK)

Hedge fund managers like David Einhorn, Dan Loeb, or Carl Icahn became billionaires through reaping large profits for their investors, which is why piggybacking their stock picks may provide us with significant returns as well. Many hedge funds, like Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, are pretty secretive, but we can still get some insights by analyzing their quarterly 13F filings. One of the most fertile grounds for large abnormal returns is hedge funds’ most popular small-cap picks, which are not so widely followed and often trade at a discount to their intrinsic value. In this article we will check out hedge fund activity in another small-cap stock: Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCK).

Is Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCK) a buy right now? Money managers are taking an optimistic view. The number of long hedge fund bets advanced by 7 recently. LMCK was in 39 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 32 hedge funds in our database with LMCK holdings at the end of the previous quarter. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity, but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR), Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX), and Tata Motors Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TTM) to gather more data points.

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If you’d ask most investors, hedge funds are seen as slow, outdated investment vehicles of years past. While there are more than 8000 funds in operation at present, We look at the masters of this group, about 700 funds. It is estimated that this group of investors orchestrate most of the smart money’s total capital, and by monitoring their matchless investments, Insider Monkey has come up with many investment strategies that have historically surpassed Mr. Market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy exceeded the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points annually for a decade in their back tests.

Now, let’s check out the fresh action regarding Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCK).

How are hedge funds trading Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCK)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 39 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, an increase of 22% from the second quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has the biggest position in Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCK), worth close to $530.2 million, accounting for 0.4% of its total 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is D E Shaw, run by D. E. Shaw, which holds a $274.9 million position; the fund has 0.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions consist of Bob Peck and Andy Raab’s FPR Partners, Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management and Wallace Weitz’s Wallace R. Weitz & Co..

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Arlington Value Capital, managed by Allan Mecham and Ben Raybould, created the biggest position in Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCK). According to its latest 13F filing, the fund had $8.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Shane Finemore’s Manikay Partners also made an $8.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Michael Platt and William Reeves’s BlueCrest Capital Mgmt., Steven Owsley’s Madison Street Partners, and Michael Hintze’s CQS Cayman LP.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCK). These stocks are Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR), Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX), Tata Motors Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TTM), and Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to LMCK’s market value.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
WHR 37 1866682 0
EFX 35 439297 6
TTM 22 431033 2
TSCO 30 237007 10

As you can see these stocks had an average of 31 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $744 million. That figure was $1.94 billion in LMCK’s case. Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Tata Motors Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TTM) is the least popular one with only 22 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, Liberty Media Corp (NASDAQ:LMCK) is more popular among hedge funds and it has attracted more of the hedgies’ money. It is also important to note the presence of the legendary Warren Buffett among those who have invested in the company. Considering that hedge funds in general are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.