Is Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL) going to take off soon? The best stock pickers are getting less optimistic. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went down by 3 recently.
To the average investor, there are tons of metrics investors can use to watch Mr. Market. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can beat the S&P 500 by a significant margin (see just how much).
Equally as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are a number of stimuli for a bullish insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors know where to look (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a glance at the recent action surrounding Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL).
Hedge fund activity in Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL)
In preparation for this year, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -19% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.
According to our comprehensive database, Generation Investment Management, managed by David Blood and Al Gore, holds the most valuable position in Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL). Generation Investment Management has a $198.7 million position in the stock, comprising 4.7% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is John W. Rogers of Ariel Investments, with a $166.7 million position; the fund has 3.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that hold long positions include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, Scott McLellan’s Marble Arch Investments and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
Judging by the fact that Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL) has experienced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, we can see that there exists a select few money managers who were dropping their entire stakes in Q4. Interestingly, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies dropped the largest position of all the hedgies we watch, comprising an estimated $1.7 million in stock., and Louis Bacon of Moore Global Investments was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $1.1 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds in Q4.
Insider trading activity in Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL)
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL). These stocks are CBRE Group Inc (NYSE:CBG), Realogy Holdings Corp (NYSE:RLGY), CoStar Group Inc (NASDAQ:CSGP), Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:FCE-A), and Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP). This group of stocks belong to the property management industry and their market caps resemble JLL’s market cap.
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| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| CBRE Group Inc (NYSE:CBG) | 20 | 0 | 7 |
| Realogy Holdings Corp (NYSE:RLGY) | 33 | 0 | 0 |
| CoStar Group Inc (NASDAQ:CSGP) | 8 | 0 | 5 |
| Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:FCE-A) | 0 | 0 | |
| Icahn Enterprises LP (NASDAQ:IEP) | 3 | 6 | 0 |
With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Jones Lang LaSalle Inc (NYSE:JLL) is no exception.
