Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)?

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) was in 38 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. M has seen a decrease in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 43 hedge funds in our database with M positions at the end of the previous quarter.

In the financial world, there are tons of metrics market participants can use to track their holdings. A pair of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a solid amount (see just how much).

Just as key, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the marketplace. Obviously, there are lots of stimuli for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if you understand where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a glance at the latest action encompassing Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M).

How have hedgies been trading Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 38 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -12% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, Lee Ainslie’s Maverick Capital had the largest position in Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M), worth close to $294 million, accounting for 4.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is John A. Levin of Levin Capital Strategies, with a $168 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich’s Scopia Capital, Robert Bishop’s Impala Asset Management and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

Because Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) has faced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers that elected to cut their entire stakes heading into 2013. At the top of the heap, Louis Navellier’s Navellier & Associates said goodbye to the biggest investment of all the hedgies we key on, valued at about $55 million in stock.. John Kleinheinz’s fund, Kleinheinz Capital Partners, also cut its stock, about $24 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 5 funds heading into 2013.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time period, Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) has seen 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 14 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s strategies, retail investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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