At Holdings Channel, we have reviewed the latest batch of the 42 most recent 13F filings for the 06/30/2014 reporting period, and noticed that SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) was held by 16 of these funds. When hedge fund managers appear to be thinking alike, we find it is a good idea to take a closer look.
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Before we proceed, it is important to point out that 13F filings do not tell the whole story, because these funds are only required to disclose their
long positions with the SEC, but are not required to disclose their
short positions. A fund making a bearish bet against a stock by shorting calls, for example, might also be long some amount of stock as they trade around their overall bearish position. This long component could show up in a 13F filing and everyone might assume the fund is bullish, but this tells only part of the story
because the bearish/short side of the position is not seen.
Having given that caveat, we believe that looking at
groups of 13F filings can be revealing, especially when comparing one holding period to another. Below, let's take a look at the change in SPY positions, for this latest batch of 13F filers:
| Fund | New Position? | Change In Share Count | Change In Market Value ($ in 1000's) |
| Meritage Group LP | Existing | -2,087,400 | -$435,810 |
| Convergent Wealth Advisors | Existing | +12,649 | +$3,020 |
| MWG GP LLC | Existing | -350,000 | -$67,022 |
| Cambridge Trust Co. | Existing | -147 | -$12 |
| Modera Wealth Management LLC | Existing | -470 | +$26 |
| McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. | Existing | -49 | +$1 |
| Babson Capital Management LLC | Existing | +2,420,150 | -$29,125 |
| Axis Capital Holdings Ltd. | Existing | +385,657 | +$79,054 |
| BBT Capital Management LLC | Existing | -74,311 | -$6,444 |
| Baldwin Investment Management LLC | Existing | -47 | +$52 |
| SSI Investment Management Inc. | Existing | +1,364 | +$3,118 |
| Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC | Existing | UNCH | +$21 |
| Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. | Existing | -1,395 | -$92 |
| Banyan Partners LLC | Existing | -98,000 | -$19,172 |
| Lehman Financial Resources Inc. | Existing | -347 | -$61 |
| First Eagle Investment Management LLC | Existing | +111,330 | +$21,985 |
| Aggregate Change: | +318,984 | -$450,461 |
In terms of shares owned, we count 5 of the above funds having increased existing SPY positions from 03/31/2014 to 06/30/2014, with 10 having decreased their positions. Worth noting is that
Meritage Group LP,
MWG GP LLC,
Babson Capital Management LLC, and
Banyan Partners LLC, included in this recent batch of 13F filers, exited SPY common stock as of 06/30/2014.
Looking beyond these particular funds in this one batch of most recent filers, we tallied up the SPY share count in the aggregate among
all of the funds which held SPY at the 06/30/2014 reporting period (out of the 1,495 we looked at in total). We then compared that number to the sum total of SPY shares those same funds held back at the 03/31/2014 period, to see how the aggregate share count held by hedge funds has moved for SPY. We found that between these two periods, funds reduced their holdings by 17,915,252 shares in the aggregate, from 88,320,216 down to 70,404,964 for a share count decline of approximately -20.28%. The overall top three funds holding SPY on 06/30/2014 were:
We'll keep following the
latest 13F filings by hedge fund managers and bring you interesting stories derived from a look at the aggregate information across groups of managers between filing periods. While looking at individual 13F filings can sometimes be misleading due to the long-only nature of the information, the sum total across
groups of funds from one reporting period to another can be a lot more revealing and relevant, providing interesting stock ideas that merit further research, like SPDR S&P 500 ETF (
SPY).
