Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About The Walt Disney Company (DIS) Anymore

Since The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has faced a declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few funds that elected to cut their entire stakes in the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Clifford Fox’s Columbus Circle Investors sold off the biggest stake of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, comprising an estimated $171 million in stock, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $88.6 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 12 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) but similarly valued. These stocks are Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ADR) (NYSE:BUD), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (ADR) (NYSE:NTT), and Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL). This group of stocks’ market values matches The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)’s market value.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 57 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $4.80 billion. That figure was $3.37 billion in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)’s case. Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (ADR) (NYSE:NTT) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) 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, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.