Hedge Funds Are Betting On HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA)

Is HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA) a marvelous stock to buy now? Money managers are becoming hopeful. The number of long hedge fund positions improved by 19 recently.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of indicators shareholders can use to track Mr. Market. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can outclass the market by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA)

Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. Obviously, there are lots of reasons for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, let’s take a glance at the key action regarding HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA).

How are hedge funds trading HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 58 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 49% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, Larry Robbins’s Glenview Capital had the biggest position in HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA), worth close to $269 million billion, accounting for 3.8% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Paulson & Co, managed by John Paulson, which held a $210 million position; the fund has 1.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management, David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management LP and John Griffin’s Blue Ridge Capital.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have jumped into HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA) headfirst. Appaloosa Management LP, managed by David Tepper, initiated the largest position in HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA). Appaloosa Management LP had 131 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Kenneth Mario Garschina’s Mason Capital Management also made a $109 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Bain Capital’s Brookside Capital, Jonathon Jacobson’s Highfields Capital Management, and Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital.

What have insiders been doing with HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA)?

Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time frame, HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 13 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns shown by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and HCA Holdings Inc (NYSE:HCA) is an important part of this process.

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