Evercore Partners Inc. (EVR): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR) was in 16 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. EVR has seen an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with EVR positions at the end of the previous quarter.

If you’d ask most market participants, hedge funds are perceived as underperforming, outdated investment tools of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading at the moment, we choose to focus on the crème de la crème of this club, around 450 funds. It is estimated that this group oversees the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by monitoring their highest performing stock picks, we have revealed a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see the details here).

Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. There are plenty of stimuli for a bullish insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a gander at the recent action regarding Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR).

What does the smart money think about Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 78% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the most valuable position in Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR). Citadel Investment Group has a $27 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $20.3 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors, Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.

Consequently, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, established the biggest position in Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR). Renaissance Technologies had 20.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors also initiated a $15.8 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new EVR positions are Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management, Van Schreiber’s Bennett Lawrence Management, and Mike Vranos’s Ellington.

Insider trading activity in Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, 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 Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR). These stocks are Financial Engines Inc (NASDAQ:FNGN), Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE:CNS), Virtus Investment Partners Inc (NASDAQ:VRTS), Gamco Investors Inc. (NYSE:GBL), and WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NASDAQ:WETF). All of these stocks are in the asset management industry and their market caps resemble EVR’s market cap.

With the results shown by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR) is no exception.

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