LIBERTY GLOBAL PLC (LBTYK): Is the Big Dip in Smart Money Ownership Justified?

Judging by the fact that LIBERTY GLOBAL PLC (NASDAQ:LBTYK) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there exists a select few funds who were dropping their entire stakes heading into 2016. Intriguingly, Doug Silverman and Alexander Klabin’s Senator Investment Group said goodbye to the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds watched by Insider Monkey, comprising about $114.9 million in stock. John Lykouretzos’ fund, Hoplite Capital Management, also dumped its stock, about $34.3 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 15 funds heading into 2016.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as LIBERTY GLOBAL PLC (NASDAQ:LBTYK) but similarly valued. These stocks are Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK), Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS), Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), and Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble LBTYK’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 43 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $3.91 billion. That figure was $8.05 billion in LBTYK’s case. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) is the least popular one with only 24 bullish hedge fund positions. LIBERTY GLOBAL PLC (NASDAQ:LBTYK) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal, but given that ownership of the stock among top investors declined greatly in the fourth quarter ahead of a 10% drop in shares so far in 2016, we’d recommend waiting for a rebound in investor sentiment before making a move on the stock.

Disclosure: None