Is Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM) a Good Buy?

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Is Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) a bargain? Investors who are in the know are getting more bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund positions improved by 1 in recent months. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG), POSCO (ADR) (NYSE:PKX), and Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:DISCA) to gather more data points.

Follow Whole Foods Market Inc (NASDAQ:WFM)

In today’s marketplace there are a large number of signals investors use to size up stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar signals are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a healthy margin (see the details here).

Now, we’re going to take a glance at the fresh action regarding Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM).

How are hedge funds trading Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 33 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 3% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the biggest position in Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM). Renaissance Technologies has a $58.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Joshua Friedman and Mitchell Julis of Canyon Capital Advisors, with a $58.4 million position; the fund has 1.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors that are bullish contain Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Robert Joseph Caruso’s Select Equity Group and Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management.

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