Illumina, Inc. (ILMN): Hedge Fund Ownership Half What It Was Last Year

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Because Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) has witnessed falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of hedgies who sold off their full holdings heading into Q4. Intriguingly, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group dumped the biggest position of the 700 funds monitored by Insider Monkey, totaling an estimated $14.3 million in stock. John M. Angelo and Michael L. Gordon’s fund, Angelo Gordon & Co, also dumped its stock, about $5.1 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN). These stocks are Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE:WEC), SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI), Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB), and TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble ILMN’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
WEC 20 101872 7
STI 31 692819 1
CPB 27 290828 -2
TEL 23 869744 -2

As you can see these stocks had an average of 25.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $489 million. That figure was $433 million in ILMN’s case. SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE:WEC) is the least popular one with only 20 bullish hedge fund positions. Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard STI might be a better candidate to consider for a long position.

Disclosure: None

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