Should You Avoid PrivateBancorp Inc (PVTB)?

PrivateBancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVTB) has experienced a decrease in hedge fund sentiment recently.

At the moment, there are tons of indicators market participants can use to watch the equity markets. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can trounce the broader indices by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are many motivations for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a glance at the key action surrounding PrivateBancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVTB).

What does the smart money think about PrivateBancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVTB)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -22% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Matthew Lindenbaum’s Basswood Capital had the biggest position in PrivateBancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVTB), worth close to $18.2 million, accounting for 1.4% of its total 13F portfolio. On Basswood Capital’s heels is Donald Chiboucis of Columbus Circle Investors, with a $17 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers with similar optimism include John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments, Drew Cupps’s Cupps Capital Management and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.

Since PrivateBancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVTB) has witnessed falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers that decided to sell off their positions entirely heading into Q2. Intriguingly, Anil Stevens and Glenn Shapiro’s Parameter Capital Management dropped the biggest stake of all the hedgies we track, totaling close to $3.5 million in stock., and Steven Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $1.1 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds heading into Q2.

How have insiders been trading PrivateBancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVTB)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, PrivateBancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVTB) has seen 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned research, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and PrivateBancorp Inc (NASDAQ:PVTB) is no exception.

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