C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW): Insiders Are Buying, Should You?: United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS), Hub Group Inc (HUBG)

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) shareholders have witnessed a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently.

In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are seen as worthless, old financial tools of years past. While there are over 8000 funds trading today, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the elite of this club, about 450 funds. It is estimated that this group controls the majority of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by keeping an eye on their best stock picks, we have come up with a number of investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have topped the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (check out a sample of our picks).

Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to break down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of motivations for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a peek at the latest action encompassing C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW), one of the biggest logistics companies in the World.

How have hedgies been trading C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -15% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Merchants’ Gate Capital, managed by Jason Capello, holds the most valuable position in C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW). Merchants’ Gate Capital has a $176 million position in the stock, comprising 7.9% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is William B. Gray of Orbis Investment Management, with a $125 million position; the fund has 1.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include David Blood and Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management, James Crichton and Adam Weiss’s Scout Capital Management and Donald Yacktman’s Yacktman Asset Management.

Judging by the fact that C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) has witnessed falling interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there were a few money managers that decided to sell off their positions entirely last quarter. At the top of the heap, Robert Joseph Caruso’s Select Equity Group dropped the biggest position of the 450+ funds we monitor, totaling an estimated $29 million in call options. Dmitry Balyasny’s fund, Balyasny Asset Management, also dropped its stock, about $21 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds last quarter.

Insider trading activity in C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW)

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time frame, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW). These stocks are United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS), Hub Group Inc (NASDAQ:HUBG), UTi Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ:UTIW), FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX), and Expeditors International of Washington (NASDAQ:EXPD). This group of stocks are in the air delivery & freight services industry and their market caps match CHRW’s market cap.

Company Name	# of Hedge Funds	# of Insiders Buying	# of Insiders Selling
United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)	44	0	4
Hub Group Inc (NASDAQ:HUBG)	13	0	4
UTi Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ:UTIW)	12	0	2
FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX)	40	1	7
Expeditors International of Washington (NASDAQ:EXPD)	24	0	9

With the returns shown by the aforementioned tactics, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) is an important part of this process.

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