H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ) has experienced an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently.
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Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are many incentives for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, let’s take a gander at the key action encompassing H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ).
What does the smart money think about H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ)?
In preparation for this quarter, a total of 37 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 131% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.
As one would reasonably expect, some big names were breaking ground themselves. York Capital Management, managed by James Dinan, assembled the biggest position in H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ). York Capital Management had 343.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Doug Silverman and Alexander Klabin’s Senator Investment Group also initiated a $306.9 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new HNZ investors: Robert Emil Zoellner’s Alpine Associates, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, and Jane Mendillo’s Harvard Management Co.
How have insiders been trading H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time period, H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ). These stocks are Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST), Lancaster Colony Corp. (NASDAQ:LANC), The WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV), Unilever plc (ADR) (NYSE:UL), and Kraft Foods Group Inc (NASDAQ:KRFT). This group of stocks are the members of the food – major diversified industry and their market caps are similar to HNZ’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST) | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Lancaster Colony Corp. (NASDAQ:LANC) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| The WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Unilever plc (ADR) (NYSE:UL) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Kraft Foods Group Inc (NASDAQ:KRFT) | 29 | 0 | 1 |
With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s studies, everyday investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
