Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (HST)?

Is Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST) a healthy stock for your portfolio? Prominent investors are in an optimistic mood. The number of long hedge fund bets moved up by 8 in recent months.

In the financial world, there are plenty of indicators market participants can use to monitor Mr. Market. A pair of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can beat the market by a significant margin (see just how much).

Just as integral, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the marketplace. There are many motivations for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a peek at the key action encompassing Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST).

What does the smart money think about Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 20 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 67% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, Jeffrey Furber’s AEW Capital Management had the most valuable position in Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST), worth close to $158.1 million, comprising 3.9% of its total 13F portfolio. On AEW Capital Management’s heels is Capital Growth Management, managed by Ken Heebner, which held a $109.7 million position; the fund has 2.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Christopher Medlock James’s Partner Fund Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital.

Now, specific money managers have jumped into Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST) headfirst. Partner Fund Management, managed by Christopher Medlock James, initiated the largest position in Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST). Partner Fund Management had 81.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital also made a $36.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new HST positions are Joe DiMenna’s ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS, Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management, and Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management.

How have insiders been trading Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST). These stocks are Strategic Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:BEE), DiamondRock Hospitality Company (NYSE:DRH), Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc (NYSE:SHO), LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO), and RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ). This group of stocks are the members of the reit – hotel/motel industry and their market caps are closest to HST’s market cap.

With the returns shown by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Host Hotels and Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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