In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of gauges market participants can use to watch stocks. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can trounce the market by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Equally as key, bullish insider trading activity is another way to analyze the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of stimuli for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).
Now that that’s out of the way, it’s important to examine the latest info surrounding Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH).
What does the smart money think about Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH)?
Heading into Q3, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -21% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.
As Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH) has witnessed declining interest from upper-tier hedge fund managers, logic holds that there is a sect of money managers that elected to cut their full holdings in Q1. At the top of the heap, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management dumped the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, comprising about $2.2 million in stock, and Glenn Russell Dubin of Highbridge Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $1.2 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest fell by 4 funds in Q1.
What have insiders been doing with Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH). These stocks are Oritani Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:ORIT), First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF), Independent Bank Corp (NASDAQ:INDB), Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL), and NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB). All of these stocks are in the regional – northeast banks industry and their market caps resemble BPFH’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Oritani Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:ORIT) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent Bank Corp (NASDAQ:INDB) | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Using the returns shown by the previously mentioned strategies, regular investors should always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH) is no exception.
