According to most investors, hedge funds are seen as worthless, outdated investment tools of yesteryear. While there are over 8000 funds trading at the moment, we hone in on the crème de la crème of this club, about 450 funds. It is estimated that this group has its hands on the majority of the smart money’s total capital, and by paying attention to their best picks, we have uncovered a number of investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (see all of our picks from August).
Equally as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are plenty of motivations for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a peek at the key action regarding Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO).
What does the smart money think about Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO)?
At year’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, AEW Capital Management, managed by Jeffrey Furber, holds the biggest position in Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO). AEW Capital Management has a $137 million position in the stock, comprising 3.6% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Third Avenue Management, managed by Martin Whitman, which held a $53 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Mason Hawkins’s Southeastern Asset Management, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Since Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) has experienced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few money managers that elected to cut their positions entirely at the end of the year. It’s worth mentioning that Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors cut the largest position of all the hedgies we watch, valued at an estimated $5 million in stock.. David Harding’s fund, Winton Capital Management, also dumped its stock, about $3 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
Insider trading activity in Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO)
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time frame, Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s tactics, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) is an important part of this process.
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