Do Hedge Funds Love Monsanto Company (MON)?

Since Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) has faced a bearish sentiment from the smart money, we can see that there was a specific group of hedgies that slashed their positions entirely heading into Q4. Intriguingly, Jonathon Jacobson’s Highfields Capital Management sold off the largest investment of all the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, worth about $143 million in call options., and Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $85.3 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds heading into Q4.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON). These stocks are Kimberly Clark Corp (NYSE:KMB), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF), and China Telecom Corporation Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CHA). This group of stocks’ market caps is closest to Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 33 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $975 million. That figure was $3.05 billion in Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON)’s case. Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, China Telecom Corporation Limited (ADR) (NYSE:CHA) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.