Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About Silicon Laboratories (SLAB) Anymore

Seeing as Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB) has faced a bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there was a specific group of funds that slashed their full holdings in the third quarter. Interestingly, Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital said goodbye to the biggest position of the 700 funds tracked by Insider Monkey, comprising about $6.2 million in call options., and Christopher Zepf and Brian Thonn’s Kingdom Ridge Capital was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $5.4 million worth of shares. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell by 6 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB) but similarly valued. We will take a look at CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF), Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI), Matador Resources Co (NYSE:MTDR), and Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB)’s market value.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $153 million. That figure was $34 million in Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB)’s case. Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, CVB Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:CVBF) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard, Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DK) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.