This Metric Says You Are Smart to Sell Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE)

Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE) investors should be aware of a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months.

Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE)

At the moment, there are dozens of methods shareholders can use to watch their holdings. Two of the most innovative 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 top fund managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of reasons for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if investors understand where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, let’s take a gander at the latest action encompassing Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE).

What does the smart money think about Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE)?

At year’s end, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -5% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.

Of the funds we track, Pzena Investment Management, managed by Richard S. Pzena, holds the biggest position in Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE). Pzena Investment Management has a $128 million position in the stock, comprising 1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Seminole Capital (Investment Mgmt), managed by Michael Messner, which held a $29 million position; 0% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital and Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital.

Since Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of funds who sold off their entire stakes in Q4. Interestingly, Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital dumped the biggest investment of all the hedgies we monitor, worth about $11 million in stock., and Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $3 million worth. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds in Q4.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time frame, Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 10 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned strategies, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Partnerre Ltd (NYSE:PRE) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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