Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA)? – AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (AHS), Kforce Inc. (KFRC)

Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) has seen a decrease in hedge fund sentiment lately.

In the financial world, there are dozens of indicators market participants can use to watch Mr. Market. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are many incentives for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a glance at the recent action surrounding Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA).

How are hedge funds trading Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -9% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the biggest position in Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA), worth close to $12 million, comprising 0% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Martin Whitman of Third Avenue Management, with a $6 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

Because Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) has faced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there were a few hedge funds who sold off their full holdings heading into 2013. It’s worth mentioning that D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw cut the biggest position of all the hedgies we track, valued at about $0 million in stock.. Jacob Gottlieb’s fund, Visium Asset Management, also dumped its stock, about $0 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds heading into 2013.

How have insiders been trading Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA). These stocks are Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI), Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC), DICE HOLDINGS, INC. (NYSE:DHX), Compass Diversified Holdings (NYSE:CODI), and AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS). This group of stocks are the members of the staffing & outsourcing services industry and their market caps are closest to KELYA’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by our studies, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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