Short Sellers Target Big Financial Names (BAC)(AIG)(WFC)(FRE)

Short sellers upped their investments in stocks of the most prominent financial firms. Short interest in Bank of America (BAC), AIG (AIG), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Freddie Mac (FRE) all rose for the period ending June 30.

Short sellers also increased position in several regional  banks. Short interest in KeyCorp (KEY) rose 31% to 38.1 million. Shares sold short in Regions Financial (RF) were up 13% to 65.9 million. Shares short in Bank of NY Mellon (BK) rose 31% to 14.2 million, and the short interest in Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) rose 75% to 58.8 million.

The increases in shares short in larger financials was, in some cases, very large. Shares short in AIG rose 33 million to 262 million. The short interest in Bank of America was up more than 13 million share to 109 million.  Shares short in Freddie Mac rose 14 million to 80 million. Shares short in Wells Fargo were up 6 million to 123 million.

Among the largest short positions for the period, shares short in Pfizer (PFE) were up 16% to 236 million. The short interest in Merck (MRK) rose 9% to 236 million. Shares short in AMD (AMD) rose 10% to 70 million, and the short interest in Sprint (S) was up 7% to 67 million.

Data from NYSE and Nasdaq.

Douglas A. McIntyre