Hedge Funds Are Selling Office Depot Inc (ODP)

A whopping number of 13F filings filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been processed by Insider Monkey so that individual investors can look at the overall hedge fund sentiment towards the stocks included in their watchlists. These freshly-submitted public filings disclose money managers’ equity positions as of the end of the three-month period that ended September 30, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on Office Depot Inc (NYSE:ODP).

Is Office Depot Inc (NYSE:ODP) a buy right now? Prominent investors are in a bearish mood. The number of bullish hedge fund bets decreased by 13 lately. ODP was in 34 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2016. There were 47 hedge funds in our database with ODP holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare ODP to other stocks including Esterline Technologies Corporation (NYSE:ESL), Mueller Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MLI), and Lithia Motors Inc (NYSE:LAD) to get a better sense of its popularity.

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Now, let’s view the fresh action encompassing Office Depot Inc (NYSE:ODP).

Hedge fund activity in Office Depot Inc (NYSE:ODP)

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 34 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -28% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Paulson & Co, managed by John Paulson, holds the number one position in Office Depot Inc (NYSE:ODP). Paulson & Co has a $54.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.6% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Glenn J. Krevlin of Glenhill Advisors, with a $46.6 million position; 2.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers with similar optimism include Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group, Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.