Knoll Inc (KNL): Hedge Funds Are Bullish and Insiders Are Undecided, What Should You Do?

What’s a smart Knoll Inc (NYSE:KNL) investor to do?

In the financial world, there are many methods investors can use to monitor the equity markets. A duo of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can beat the S&P 500 by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to look at the marketplace. There are many stimuli for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if you know what to do (learn more here).

Furthermore, it’s important to examine the latest info for Knoll Inc (NYSE:KNL).

How have hedgies been trading Knoll Inc (NYSE:KNL)?

At Q2’s end, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 22% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

According to our 13F database, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management had the biggest position in Knoll Inc (NYSE:KNL), worth close to $27 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Daruma Asset Management, managed by Mariko Gordon, which held a $17.1 million position; the fund has 0.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Consequently, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Adage Capital Management, managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, established the most outsized position in Knoll Inc (NYSE:KNL). Adage Capital Management had 27 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Mariko Gordon’s Daruma Asset Management also made a $17.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new KNL positions are Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Insider trading activity in Knoll Inc (NYSE:KNL)

Insider buying made by high-level executives is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Knoll Inc (NYSE:KNL) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Knoll Inc (NYSE:KNL). These stocks are Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI), VeriFone Systems Inc (NYSE:PAY), Steelcase Inc. (NYSE:SCS), Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR), and HNI Corp (NYSE:HNI). This group of stocks belong to the business equipment industry and their market caps are similar to KNL’s market cap.