Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY) was in 12 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. KFY has seen a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with KFY holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
Equally as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the world of equities. Obviously, there are lots of incentives for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors know what to do (learn more here).
Now, we’re going to take a look at the recent action encompassing Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY).
Hedge fund activity in Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY)
Heading into 2013, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
According to our comprehensive database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the most valuable position in Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY), worth close to $38.5 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider of SG Capital Management, with a $8.2 million position; the fund has 4.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Matthew Lindenbaum’s Basswood Capital, Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
Because Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY) has faced falling interest from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of money managers that elected to cut their full holdings last quarter. At the top of the heap, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies dropped the biggest stake of all the hedgies we watch, totaling an estimated $2.8 million in stock., and Joel Greenblatt of Gotham Asset Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $2.5 million worth. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
How have insiders been trading Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time period, Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY). These stocks are DICE HOLDINGS, INC. (NYSE:DHX), Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA), AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS), Compass Diversified Holdings (NYSE:CODI), and Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI). All of these stocks are in the staffing & outsourcing services industry and their market caps are similar to KFY’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| DICE HOLDINGS, INC. (NYSE:DHX) | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:KELYA) | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AHS) | 15 | 1 | 8 |
| Compass Diversified Holdings (NYSE:CODI) | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| Trueblue Inc (NYSE:TBI) | 7 | 0 | 10 |
With the results demonstrated by our time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Korn/Ferry International (NYSE:KFY) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
