Is Expeditors International of Washington (EXPD) A Good Stock To Buy?

Seeing as Expeditors International of Washington (NASDAQ:EXPD) has faced a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there were a few funds that slashed their entire stakes by the end of the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management said goodbye to the largest stake of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, totaling about $2.3 million in stock, and John W. Rogers’s Ariel Investments was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $1.7 million worth of shares. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 6 funds by the end of the third quarter.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Expeditors International of Washington (NASDAQ:EXPD). We will take a look at Cheniere Energy Partners LP (NYSEAMEX:CQP), Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:CTRP), Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR), and CNH Industrial NV (NYSE:CNHI). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to EXPD’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 22 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $682 million. That figure was $731 million in EXPD’s case. Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:CTRP) is the most popular stock in this table, whereas Cheniere Energy Partners LP (NYSEAMEX:CQP) is at the other end of the specter with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Expeditors International of Washington (NASDAQ:EXPD) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. While this is a slightly positive signal, we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard CTRP might be a better candidate to consider a long position.