Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) was in 22 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. TAP has seen a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently. There were 24 hedge funds in our database with TAP holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
To most market participants, hedge funds are perceived as slow, old financial vehicles of years past. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open today, we look at the bigwigs of this group, about 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group controls the lion’s share of the smart money’s total capital, and by paying attention to their best stock picks, we have unearthed a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually 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 trumped the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (see the details here).
Consequently, let’s take a glance at the latest action regarding Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP).
What does the smart money think about Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 22 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -8% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
According to our comprehensive database, Pzena Investment Management, managed by Richard S. Pzena, holds the largest position in Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP). Pzena Investment Management has a $111 million billion position in the stock, comprising 0.9% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Levin Capital Strategies, managed by John A. Levin, which held a $97 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers with similar optimism include David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments, Martin D. Sass’s MD Sass and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
Because Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) has experienced falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there was a specific group of hedgies who were dropping their entire stakes in Q4. It’s worth mentioning that Mark Travis’s Intrepid Capital Management sold off the biggest stake of all the hedgies we track, comprising about $15 million in stock., and Bart Baum of Ionic Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $9 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds in Q4.
How are insiders trading Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP)?
Bullish insider trading is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time period, Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns exhibited by our time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) applies perfectly to this mantra.
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