Hedge Funds Are Dumping Cohen & Steers, Inc. (CNS)

Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE:CNS) was in 5 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. CNS has experienced a decrease in hedge fund interest recently. There were 9 hedge funds in our database with CNS holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many gauges market participants can use to monitor publicly traded companies. A pair of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a significant margin (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are plenty of incentives for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a gander at the key action regarding Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE:CNS).

Hedge fund activity in Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE:CNS)

At year’s end, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -44% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the biggest position in Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE:CNS). Royce & Associates has a $37.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Mario Gabelli of GAMCO Investors, with a $37.6 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and John Zaro’s Bourgeon Capital.

Due to the fact that Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE:CNS) has faced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there is a sect of money managers that slashed their entire stakes heading into 2013. At the top of the heap, Murray Stahl’s Horizon Asset Management dumped the largest investment of all the hedgies we watch, totaling close to $6.2 million in stock.. Paul Tudor Jones’s fund, Tudor Investment Corp, also sold off its stock, about $0.7 million worth. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 4 funds heading into 2013.

Insider trading activity in Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE:CNS)

Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time frame, Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE:CNS) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE:CNS). These stocks are WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NASDAQ:WETF), Gamco Investors Inc. (NYSE:GBL), Janus Capital Group Inc (NYSE:JNS), Virtus Investment Partners Inc (NASDAQ:VRTS), and Financial Engines Inc (NASDAQ:FNGN). All of these stocks are in the asset management industry and their market caps are closest to CNS’s market cap.

With the returns shown by our studies, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE:CNS) is an important part of this process.

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