With institutional money moving out of the market, it's a good time for investors to take a breather, Joe Terranova of Virtus Investment Partners said Thursday.
"I really believe what's gone on here is a lot of the passive money that's been in the market over the course of five months, that institutional flow, has come out," he said.
"You're seeing a lot of short-term trading right now, a lot of high-frequency trading taking over the markets. I just think it's a period where you have to have a wait-and-see mentality."
On CNBC's "Fast Money," Terranova noted that despite the recent declines, the stock market was up 45 percent year over year, as well as higher year to date.
"We're still up 20 percent," he added.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced midday, gaining above 15,000, after logging its first three-day losing streak this year in the previous session. he S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also rose.
(Read More: Stocks Tick Higher, Dow Above 15000; COTY Dips)
Josh Brown of Fusion Analytics said that the market activity was no reason to panic.