Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently.
At the moment, there are plenty of methods shareholders can use to watch Mr. Market. A couple of the best 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 investment managers can outclass the market by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as integral, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of reasons for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a gander at the latest action surrounding Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT).
What have hedge funds been doing with Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 34 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -3% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, First Eagle Investment Management, managed by Jean-Marie Eveillard, holds the largest position in Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT). First Eagle Investment Management has a $418 million billion position in the stock, comprising 1.5% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which held a $111 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include John Shapiro’s Chieftain Capital, Ron Gutfleish’s Elm Ridge Capital and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Since Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) has experienced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of funds that slashed their positions entirely last quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Peter Adam Hochfelder’s Brahman Capital cut the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds we key on, worth about $56 million in call options. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s fund, Adage Capital Management, also dumped its stock, about $52 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds last quarter.
How are insiders trading Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns shown by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) is an important part of this process.
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