Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LRY) was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. LRY investors should pay attention to a decrease in hedge fund interest recently. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with LRY positions at the end of the previous quarter.
According to most investors, hedge funds are viewed as unimportant, outdated investment tools of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the aristocrats of this club, about 450 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group controls the lion’s share of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by paying attention to their top stock picks, we have revealed a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum 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 beaten the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).
Equally as integral, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of motivations for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if investors understand where to look (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a peek at the key action encompassing Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LRY).
Hedge fund activity in Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LRY)
Heading into Q2, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -29% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.
Of the funds we track, AEW Capital Management, managed by Jeffrey Furber, holds the biggest position in Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LRY). AEW Capital Management has a $90.8 million position in the stock, comprising 2.3% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $38.4 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management and J. Alan Reid, Jr.’s Forward Management.
Seeing as Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LRY) has faced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of hedge funds that elected to cut their entire stakes heading into Q2. Intriguingly, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw sold off the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we key on, worth an estimated $4.3 million in stock.. Matthew Tewksbury’s fund, Stevens Capital Management, also dropped its stock, about $3.3 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell by 4 funds heading into Q2.
How have insiders been trading Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LRY)?
Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time frame, Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LRY) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LRY). These stocks are CommonWealth REIT (NYSE:CWH), Highwoods Properties Inc (NYSE:HIW), Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM), Kilroy Realty Corp (NYSE:KRC), and Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc (NYSE:ARE). All of these stocks are in the reit – office industry and their market caps are closest to LRY’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| CommonWealth REIT (NYSE:CWH) | 41 | 0 | 0 |
| Highwoods Properties Inc (NYSE:HIW) | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Kilroy Realty Corp (NYSE:KRC) | 9 | 0 | 2 |
| Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc (NYSE:ARE) | 11 | 0 | 5 |
With the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LRY) applies perfectly to this mantra.
