Do Hedge Funds Love Aetna Inc. (AET)?

The third-quarter stock market correction has turned out to resemble the situation observed during the Asian financial crisis of 1997. The two relatively short-lived corrections occurred at a time with stable interest rates, falling commodity markets, with strong-performing technology and healthcare sectors, and struggling energy sector. Similarly, the two corrections followed long periods without a correction, which had to come sooner or later and it did. Even so, several prominent hedge fund investors publicly asserted their bearish view on the current state of the U.S. equity markets, suggesting that they significantly cut their exposure to equities during the latest quarter. Having said that, it would be worthwhile to take a look at the hedge fund sentiment on Aetna Inc. (NYSE:AET) in order to identify whether reputable and successful top money managers continue to believe in its potential.

Is Aetna Inc. (NYSE:AET) a great stock to buy now? The best stock pickers are reducing their bets on the stock. The number of long hedge fund positions fell by four lately. At the end of this article we will also compare AET to other stocks including CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI), China Telecom Corporation Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CHA), and Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) to get a better sense of its popularity.

To the average investor there are tons of metrics stock traders have at their disposal to value their stock investments. Some of the less utilized metrics are hedge fund and insider trading signals. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a solid amount (see the details here).

Among Aetna’s shareholders is Larry Robbins’ Glenview Capital, which discussed the company (and its other bets in the industry) in its third-quarter letter to investors. On the next page we are going to take a closer look at Glenview’s take on Aetna.