Do Hedge Funds Love Barclays PLC (ADR) (BCS)?

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Consequently, some big names have jumped into Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) headfirst. Vertex One Asset Management established the biggest position in Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS), having $3.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $1.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new BCS positions are Richard Chilton’s Chilton Investment Company, Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP, and Peter Muller’s PDT Partners.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) but similarly valued. These stocks are Rio Tinto plc (ADR) (NYSE:RIO), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), and Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE:KMI). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to BCS’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
RIO 19 146726 1
MS 57 2391811 9
VRX 88 17733508 -10
KMI 72 1826860 8

As you can see these stocks had an average of 59 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $5.53 million, versus $325 million in BCS’s case. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) is the most popular stock in this table with 88 long positions. On the other hand, Rio Tinto plc (ADR) (NYSE:RIO) is the least popular one with only 19 funds holding shares. Compared to these stocks, Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) is even less popular than RIO. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock.

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