Hedge Funds Are Betting On Duke Realty Corp (DRE)

Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE) was in 9 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. DRE has experienced an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late. There were 8 hedge funds in our database with DRE holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

According to most traders, hedge funds are assumed to be unimportant, old financial tools of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading at the moment, we look at the crème de la crème of this club, around 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group oversees the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by tracking their top stock picks, we have uncovered a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum 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 outpaced the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see all of our picks from August).

Just as important, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the financial markets. There are plenty of incentives for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if you understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a look at the key action encompassing Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE).

How are hedge funds trading Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 13% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the biggest position in Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE). Renaissance Technologies has a $11.7 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Dreman Value Management, managed by David Dreman, which held a $3.6 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital, Anil Stevens and Glenn Shapiro’s Parameter Capital Management and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Driehaus Capital, managed by Richard Driehaus, assembled the most valuable position in Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE). Driehaus Capital had 2.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Anil Stevens and Glenn Shapiro’s Parameter Capital Management also initiated a $2.1 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new DRE investors: Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors and Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

Insider trading activity in Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE)

Bullish insider trading is best served when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE). These stocks are Sovran Self Storage Inc (NYSE:SSS), DCT Industrial Trust Inc. (NYSE:DCT), CubeSmart (NYSE:CUBE), Biomed Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:BMR), and Extra Space Storage, Inc. (NYSE:EXR). This group of stocks belong to the reit – industrial industry and their market caps resemble DRE’s market cap.

With the results shown by our time-tested strategies, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Duke Realty Corp (NYSE:DRE) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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