Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC)?: Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL), PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH)

V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late.

In today’s marketplace, there are many gauges 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 studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to break down the world of equities. Obviously, there are plenty of reasons for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if you know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a glance at the recent action encompassing V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC).

What does the smart money think about V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -25% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.

According to our comprehensive database, Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital had the biggest position in V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC), worth close to $138 million, comprising 1.6% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Christopher Medlock James of Partner Fund Management, with a $125 million position; the fund has 5.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Andrew Sandler’s Sandler Capital Management, and David Harding’s Winton Capital Management.

Seeing as V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC) has faced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there is a sect of fund managers who sold off their entire stakes in Q4. It’s worth mentioning that Lee Hobson’s Highside Capital Management sold off the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, comprising about $25 million in stock., and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson of Adage Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $19 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 5 funds in Q4.

What have insiders been doing with V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 16 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC). These stocks are Gildan Activewear Inc (USA) (NYSE:GIL), Under Armour Inc (NYSE:UA), Lululemon Athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU), PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH), and Ralph Lauren Corp (NYSE:RL). All of these stocks are in the textile – apparel clothing industry and their market caps match VFC’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by our time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC) applies perfectly to this mantra.