Ford Motor Company (F): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately.

In the eyes of most shareholders, hedge funds are viewed as slow, old financial tools of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the top tier of this club, about 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of the smart money’s total asset base, and by tracking their best picks, we have uncovered a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the financial markets. There are many incentives for a corporate insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a look at the recent action surrounding Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F).

How are hedge funds trading Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 47 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -23% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly.

Of the funds we track, David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management LP had the biggest position in Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), worth close to $154.1 million, comprising 3.3% of its total 13F portfolio. On Appaloosa Management LP’s heels is Bill Miller of Legg Mason Capital Management, with a $147.3 million position; the fund has 2.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management, Bruce Kovner’s Caxton Associates LP and Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management.

Due to the fact that Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has witnessed a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there were a few hedge funds that elected to cut their entire stakes in Q1. At the top of the heap, Ken Heebner’s Capital Growth Management dropped the biggest position of the 450+ funds we watch, worth an estimated $109.8 million in stock., and Sean Cullinan of Point State Capital was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $70.1 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 14 funds in Q1.

Insider trading activity in Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)

Insider buying is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 13 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F). These stocks are Tata Motors Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TTM), Toyota Motor Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:TM), General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), and Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:HMC). This group of stocks belong to the auto manufacturers – major industry and their market caps match F’s market cap.

With the results shown by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) is an important part of this process.

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