Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR) was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. MAR investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund interest lately. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with MAR holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
To the average investor, there are a multitude of indicators shareholders can use to track Mr. Market. Some of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a superb amount (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. There are lots of stimuli for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if you understand where to look (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a peek at the key action encompassing Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR).
Hedge fund activity in Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR)
At year’s end, a total of 19 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 36% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the most valuable position in Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR), worth close to $60 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Tom Gayner of Markel Gayner Asset Management, with a $51 million position; 0% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Jeffrey Vinik’s Vinik Asset Management, Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
Consequently, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, initiated the largest position in Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR). Arrowstreet Capital had 9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates also made a $8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, and Joe DiMenna’s ZWEIG DIMENNA PARTNERS.
What have insiders been doing with Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR)?
Bullish insider trading is most useful when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 10 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns shown by our strategies, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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