Hedge Funds Are Selling Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG)

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund interest of late.

In the financial world, there are many indicators shareholders can use to monitor publicly traded companies. A pair of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can outpace the broader indices by a significant margin (see just how much).

Equally as important, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are a number of motivations for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if you know where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a peek at the recent action surrounding Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG).

Hedge fund activity in Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG)

Heading into 2013, a total of 23 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.

Of the funds we track, Select Equity Group, managed by Robert Joseph Caruso, holds the biggest position in Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG). Select Equity Group has a $179 million billion position in the stock, comprising 2.8% of its 13F portfolio. On Select Equity Group’s heels is Impala Asset Management, managed by Robert Bishop, which held a $103 million position; the fund has 5.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include Patrick McCormack’s Tiger Consumer Management, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors and Larry Foley and Paul Farrell’s Bronson Point Partners.

Due to the fact that Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) has faced a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of funds who sold off their positions entirely in Q4. At the top of the heap, Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management dropped the largest investment of the 450+ funds we track, worth about $93 million in stock.. SAC Subsidiary’s fund, Sigma Capital Management, also dumped its stock, about $18 million worth. These moves are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

How are insiders trading Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns shown by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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