Stocks that hedge funds moved from long to short in August – Jefferies
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Hedge funds increased their equity-risk exposure for a second consecutive month in August, Jefferies said Friday, and listed the stocks that money managers swung from long to short positions.
Long exposure was stepped up to 264.8% from 250% at the end of July, the steepest level since November 2022, paced by increased weights for the Industrials and Materials sectors. The S&P 500 (SP500) in August finished 2.3% higher after overcoming a plunge at the start of the month.
Jefferies’ Long-to-Short portfolio had nine sectors represented, and at five, Financials had the most names moving short in August, Steven DeSanctis, U.S. small-mid cap strategist, said in a research note Thursday.
Here are the long-to-short stocks, followed by the weight change from July 31 to August 31:
- AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) – Change: –1.2 to -0.30. Sector: Info Tech
- Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) – Change: -0.8 to -0.23. Sector: Health Care
- Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MDGL) – Change: -0.8 to -0.54. Sector: Health Care
- Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) – Change: -0.8 to -0.40. Sector: Info Tech
- Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) – Change: -0.7 to -0.01. Sector: Financials
- Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) – Change: -0.7 to -0.04. Sector: Financials
- PPL (NYSE:PPL) – Change: -0.7 to -0.05. Sector: Utilities
- Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) – Change: -0.6 to -0.41. Sector: Health Care
- Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) – Change: -0.6 to -0.00. Sector: Comm. Services
- Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Change: -0.6 to -0.54. Sector: Financials
- Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) – Change: -0.5 to -0.18. Sector: Info Tech
- RenaissanceRe Holdings (NYSE:RNR) – Change: -0.5 to -0.31. Sector: Financials
- Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) – Change: -0.4 to -0.44. Sector: Discretionary
- Micron (NASDAQ:MU) – Change: -0.4 to -0.12. Sector: Info Tech
- Builders FirstSource (NYSE:BLDR) – Change: -0.4 to -0.07. Sector: Industrials
- Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) – Change: -0.3 to -0.12. Sector: Staples
- KeyCorp. (NYSE:KEY) – Change: -0.3 to -0.15. Sector: Financials
- JBG Smith (NYSE:JBGS) – Change: -0.2 to -0.05. Sector: Real Estate
- Edison International – Change: -0.2 to -0.10. Sector: Utilities
For investors who want to track the Financials sector with ETFs, here are some: (XLF), (IYF), (FNCL), and (IYG).