By Hedge Fund Insight staff
S&P Global Market Intelligence Quarterly Hedge Fund Tracker Findings*:
- Hedge Funds Sell Off Equity Stakes: Hedge funds have sold off significant portions of their total equity holdings, shedding over $18 billion in total equity positions from Q4 2015 to Q1 2016. This is the second consecutive quarterly equity sell off among large funds, with the total number of equity positions held falling to just 408 stocks, the lowest level seen in two years.
- Apple Leads Most-Sold Stocks: The top 5 sells among hedge funds were Apple ($5.4 billion), PepsiCo ($1.8 billion), Amazon ($1.4 billion), Priceline ($1 billion), and Walgreen Boots Alliance ($1 billion). On a sector basis, the largest concentration of selling occurred in the consumer discretionary and technology sectors.
- Five Most-Bought Stocks: The top 5 buys among hedge funds were Facebook ($2.3 billion), Broadcom ($1.5 billion), Alphabet ($945 billion), Eli Lilly ($892 million), and Willis Towers Watson ($884 million)
*S&P Global Market Intelligence, a provider of multi-asset class research data and insights, today released its review of Q1 2016 13F filings by pure play hedge funds. The quarterly S&P Global Market Intelligence Hedge Fund Tracker is an aggregate analysis of hedge fund equity ownership that highlights hedge fund investments in specific stocks and sectors. S&P Global Market Intelligence analyzes the latest quarterly 13F filings to determine the top ten largest hedge funds based on reported equity assets. Further analysis isolates the universe to pure-play hedge funds that focus on stock picks and hones that universe further to isolate the hedge funds that overweight their biggest investments by capping the number of stocks held at 100. S&P Global Market Intelligence performs this research quarterly in order to understand what the most prominent hedge funds are buying, holding and selling.