Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) has seen a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money recently.
In today’s marketplace, there are tons of metrics investors can use to analyze their holdings. A pair of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top money managers can outpace the market by a superb margin (see just how much).
Equally as important, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of motivations for an insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, we’re going to take a look at the recent action regarding Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC).
How have hedgies been trading Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC)?
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 37 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -5% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.
Of the funds we track, Jonathon Jacobson’s Highfields Capital Management had the most valuable position in Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC), worth close to $245.8 million, comprising 2.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Lansdowne Partners, managed by Paul Ruddock and Steve Heinz, which held a $240.8 million position; 3.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management, Larry Robbins’s Glenview Capital and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.
Judging by the fact that Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) has faced bearish sentiment from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there were a few funds who were dropping their full holdings at the end of the first quarter. Intriguingly, Robert Pitts’s Steadfast Capital Management cut the biggest investment of all the hedgies we key on, totaling close to $103.3 million in stock.. Malcolm Fairbairn’s fund, Ascend Capital, also said goodbye to its stock, about $22.4 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds at the end of the first quarter.
How are insiders trading Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC). These stocks are DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), Liberty Global Inc. (NASDAQ:LBTYA), Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:DISCA), DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV), and Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB). This group of stocks are in the catv systems industry and their market caps are similar to TWC’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| DISH Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH) | 39 | 0 | 11 |
| Liberty Global Inc. (NASDAQ:LBTYA) | 75 | 0 | 0 |
| Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:DISCA) | 16 | 1 | 5 |
| DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV) | 45 | 0 | 6 |
| Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAB) | 49 | 0 | 0 |
With the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s strategies, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) is an important part of this process.
