This Metric Says You Are Smart to Sell State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT)

State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) has seen a decrease in hedge fund interest lately.

To the average investor, there are many methods shareholders can use to track their holdings. A couple of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of incentives for an insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if investors know what to do (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a look at the latest action regarding State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT).

What does the smart money think about State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT)?

At year’s end, a total of 39 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -11% from one quarter earlier. 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 meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Pzena Investment Management, managed by Richard S. Pzena, holds the biggest position in State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT). Pzena Investment Management has a $296 million position in the stock, comprising 2.4% of its 13F portfolio. On Pzena Investment Management’s heels is Nelson Peltz of Trian Partners, with a $148 million position; 1.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other peers that hold long positions include Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global, Thomas Steyer’s Farallon Capital and Donald Yacktman’s Yacktman Asset Management.

Because State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) has faced a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there is a sect of hedge funds that slashed their full holdings heading into 2013. Intriguingly, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies sold off the largest investment of all the hedgies we track, totaling an estimated $27 million in stock., and Richard Schimel of Diamondback Capital was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $15 million worth. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 5 funds heading into 2013.

How have insiders been trading State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s strategies, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) is no exception.

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