What Smart Money Thinks of Red Hat Inc (RHT)?

Since Red Hat Inc (NYSE:RHT) has faced a decline in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there was a specific group of funds who were dropping their positions entirely last quarter. For example, Dmitry Balyasny’s fund, Balyasny Asset Management, dropped its call options, about $7.3 million worth.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Red Hat Inc (NYSE:RHT) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Kimco Realty Corp (NYSE:KIM), Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL), Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS), and Ameren Corp (NYSE:AEE). All of these stocks’ market caps match RHT’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 24 funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $960 million. That figure was $986 million in RHT’s case. Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Kimco Realty Corp (NYSE:KIM) is the least popular one with only 11 investors holding shares. Red Hat Inc (NYSE:RHT) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.