Is CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI) worth your attention right now? The smart money is getting more bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund bets advanced by 1 lately.
To the average investor, there are a multitude of methods investors can use to analyze stocks. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a significant margin (see just how much).
Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the financial markets. There are a variety of reasons for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if you understand where to look (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a peek at the recent action surrounding CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI).
What does the smart money think about CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI)?
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 42 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 2% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.
Of the funds we track, David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital had the biggest position in CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI), worth close to $510.6 million, comprising 7.8% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Larry Robbins of Glenview Capital, with a $241.5 million position; 2.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Jeffrey Tannenbaum’s Fir Tree, Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management and Steven Richman’s East Side Capital (RR Partners).
As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Clough Capital Partners, managed by Charles Clough, assembled the biggest position in CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI). Clough Capital Partners had 15.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Harding’s Winton Capital Management also initiated a $4.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new CI positions are Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital, Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors, and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.
Insider trading activity in CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI)
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time frame, CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI). These stocks are Coventry Health Care, Inc. (NYSE:CVH), Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX), Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM), WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE:WLP), and Aetna Inc. (NYSE:AET). This group of stocks are the members of the health care plans industry and their market caps resemble CI’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Coventry Health Care, Inc. (NYSE:CVH) | 32 | 0 | 10 |
| Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX) | 68 | 1 | 6 |
| Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) | 36 | 0 | 6 |
| WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE:WLP) | 44 | 0 | 8 |
| Aetna Inc. (NYSE:AET) | 54 | 1 | 7 |
With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s tactics, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
