Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) isn’t one of the top 5 most popular stocks among hedge funds anymore. According to data compiled by hedge fund tracking website Insider Monkey, several hedge funds completely sold out their Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) positions. Dan Loeb of Third Point, Rob Citrone of Discovery Capital, Robert Pitts of Steadfast Capital, John Armitage of Egerton, and Howard Guberman of Gruss Asset Management completely dumped their Apple shares. Mike Masters had nearly $400 million and John Wu had $168 million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) call options at the end of December. Those are gone too.
According to Insider Monkey, there were 160 hedge funds with bullish Apple positions at the end of December 2013. That number declined to 129 by the end of March. The total value of hedge funds’ Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) bets was $18.5 billion at the end of December. That went down to $14.9 billion at the end of March. Hedge funds now have more money riding on Microsoft and American International Group than Apple.
Some hedge funds also initiated brand new positions in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) put positions. Hedge funds with put positions make money or avoid losses if Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares decline in price. Caxton Associates, Balyasny Asset Management, Blue Mountain Capital, Pentwater Capital, AlphaBet Management, Sabby Capital, and Laurion Capital are among the hedge funds betting on a decline in Apple shares.
It isn’t all bad news though. Quant hedge fund Renaissance Capital which is known for its profitable investments in large-cap stocks initiated a $440 million position which proved very profitable over the last 1.5 months. Tyrus Capital and Leighton Welch‘s Welch Capital also initiated brand new Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) positions during the first quarter.
