Is Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) a buy here? Investors who are in the know are taking a bullish view. The number of long hedge fund positions went up by 6 in recent months.
In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of metrics market participants can use to watch publicly traded companies. Two of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see just how much).
Equally as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are a number of reasons for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if you understand what to do (learn more here).
Consequently, let’s take a look at the key action encompassing Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW).
How are hedge funds trading Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)?
At year’s end, a total of 35 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 21% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors had the most valuable position in Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW), worth close to $253 million, accounting for 1.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Robert Joseph Caruso of Select Equity Group, with a $192 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global, Richard Chilton’s Chilton Investment Company and Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors.
Now, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, initiated the most outsized position in Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW). Renaissance Technologies had 48 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Michael Karsch’s Karsch Capital Management also initiated a $45 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management, Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW)?
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time frame, Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns exhibited by our studies, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) applies perfectly to this mantra.
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