This Metric Says You Are Smart to Buy Vornado Realty Trust (VNO)

Is Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) a worthy investment today? Prominent investors are in a bullish mood. The number of bullish hedge fund positions improved by 4 lately.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of indicators shareholders can use to monitor the equity markets. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outperform the broader indices by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are many incentives for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if you know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a look at the key action regarding Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO).

What does the smart money think about Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 22 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 22% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, AEW Capital Management, managed by Jeffrey Furber, holds the largest position in Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO). AEW Capital Management has a $137.9 million position in the stock, comprising 3.4% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Third Avenue Management, managed by Martin Whitman, which held a $55.4 million position; the fund has 1.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Mason Hawkins’s Southeastern Asset Management.

As one would reasonably expect, key money managers have jumped into Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) headfirst. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, created the largest position in Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO). Renaissance Technologies had 39.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management also initiated a $19.9 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management.

What have insiders been doing with Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO). These stocks are National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN), W.P. Carey Inc. REIT (NYSE:WPC), American Tower Corp (NYSE:AMT), Public Storage (NYSE:PSA), and Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY). This group of stocks belong to the reit – diversified industry and their market caps match VNO’s market cap.