Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Herman Miller, Inc. (MLHR)

Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR) was in 11 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. MLHR investors should pay attention to a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with MLHR holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

To the average investor, there are tons of metrics shareholders can use to track Mr. Market. Two of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are a number of reasons for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a gander at the key action encompassing Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR).

What does the smart money think about Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Pzena Investment Management, managed by Richard S. Pzena, holds the largest position in Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR). Pzena Investment Management has a $26.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. On Pzena Investment Management’s heels is Matthew Lindenbaum of Basswood Capital, with a $14.9 million position; 1.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers with similar optimism include Tom Russo’s Gardner Russo & Gardner, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Judging by the fact that Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR) has faced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers who were dropping their entire stakes last quarter. Interestingly, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies cut the biggest stake of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, worth about $4 million in stock., and John Overdeck and David Siegel of Two Sigma Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $0.3 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

What have insiders been doing with Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest 180-day time period, Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR). These stocks are Knoll Inc (NYSE:KNL), Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI), VeriFone Systems Inc (NYSE:PAY), Steelcase Inc. (NYSE:SCS), and HNI Corp (NYSE:HNI). This group of stocks are in the business equipment industry and their market caps resemble MLHR’s market cap.