W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC) was in 13 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. WPC investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund interest recently. There were 4 hedge funds in our database with WPC positions at the end of the previous quarter.
If you’d ask most stock holders, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, old investment tools of the past. While there are over 8000 funds trading at the moment, we choose to focus on the leaders of this group, around 450 funds. It is estimated that this group controls most of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by paying attention to their highest performing picks, we have come up with a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually 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 beaten the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (see all of our picks from August).
Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are plenty of incentives for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a glance at the recent action surrounding W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC).
What does the smart money think about W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 225% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
Of the funds we track, Paulson & Co, managed by John Paulson, holds the biggest position in W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC). Paulson & Co has a $83.6 million position in the stock, comprising 0.5% of its 13F portfolio. On Paulson & Co’s heels is Tom Gayner of Markel Gayner Asset Management, with a $49.8 million position; the fund has 2.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Scott Scher & Michael Prober’s Clovis Capital Management, Howard Guberman’s Gruss Asset Management and Eric Edidin and Josh Lobel’s Archer Capital Management.
Consequently, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Paulson & Co, managed by John Paulson, initiated the biggest position in W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC). Paulson & Co had 83.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Tom Gayner’s Markel Gayner Asset Management also made a $49.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new WPC investors: Scott Scher & Michael Prober’s Clovis Capital Management, Howard Guberman’s Gruss Asset Management, and Eric Edidin and Josh Lobel’s Archer Capital Management.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 4 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 W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC). These stocks are MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA), Retail Properties of America Inc (NYSE:RPAI), Douglas Emmett, Inc. (NYSE:DEI), Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD), and National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN). This group of stocks are in the reit – diversified industry and their market caps are closest to WPC’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| MFA Financial, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) | 15 | 6 | 0 |
| Retail Properties of America Inc (NYSE:RPAI) | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| Douglas Emmett, Inc. (NYSE:DEI) | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) | 20 | 1 | 1 |
| National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN) | 9 | 0 | 5 |
With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC) applies perfectly to this mantra.
