Is Macy’s, Inc. (M) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in hedge fund sentiment in recent months.

At the moment, there are a multitude of gauges shareholders can use to track stocks. A couple of the most innovative 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 elite investment managers can beat the S&P 500 by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the financial markets. There are plenty of stimuli for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a gander at the latest action surrounding Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M).

How have hedgies been trading Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 39 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -3% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Lee Ainslie’s Maverick Capital had the largest position in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M), worth close to $276.7 million, accounting for 3.6% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $100.1 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management, Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich’s Scopia Capital and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

Since Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) has experienced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few fund managers who were dropping their full holdings heading into Q2. It’s worth mentioning that Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management said goodbye to the biggest investment of all the hedgies we track, valued at about $44 million in stock.. Ken Heebner’s fund, Capital Growth Management, also sold off its stock, about $37.5 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds heading into Q2.

What have insiders been doing with Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 15 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M). These stocks are J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP), Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS), Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD), The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX), and Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS). This group of stocks belong to the department stores industry and their market caps resemble M’s market cap.