Hedge Funds Are Betting On The Blackstone Group L.P. (BX)

The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) was in 30 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. BX has seen an increase in enthusiasm from smart money recently. There were 25 hedge funds in our database with BX holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In the financial world, there are dozens of gauges market participants can use to watch Mr. Market. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can beat the market by a solid margin (see just how much).

Just as important, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to break down the world of equities. There are a variety of motivations for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a look at the latest action surrounding The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX).

What have hedge funds been doing with The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 30 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 20% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, Robert Joseph Caruso’s Select Equity Group had the most valuable call position in The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX), worth close to $255.7 million, comprising 3.4% of its total 13F portfolio. On Select Equity Group’s heels is John W. Rogers of Ariel Investments, with a $67 million position; the fund has 1.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Robert Joseph Caruso’s Select Equity Group, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Thomas E. Claugus’s GMT Capital.

Now, some big names have jumped into The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) headfirst. Chilton Investment Company, managed by Richard Chilton, created the biggest position in The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX). Chilton Investment Company had 20.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Martin Hughes’s Toscafund Asset Management also initiated a $13.6 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new BX investors: John Thiessen’s Vertex One Asset Management, Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management, and Joe DiMenna’s ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS.

How have insiders been trading The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX). These stocks are Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP), The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE:BK), Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN), State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT), and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW). All of these stocks are in the asset management industry and their market caps are closest to BX’s market cap.