Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) has seen a decrease in hedge fund interest of late.
In today’s marketplace, there are plenty of methods shareholders can use to analyze Mr. Market. A duo of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can outperform the market by a very impressive margin (see just how much).
Just as key, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of motivations for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors know what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a glance at the recent action encompassing Deere & Company (NYSE:DE).
What have hedge funds been doing with Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 29 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -15% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.
Of the funds we track, Berkshire Hathaway, managed by Warren Buffett, holds the most valuable position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE). Berkshire Hathaway has a $344 million position in the stock, comprising 0.5% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, which held a $128 million position; the fund has 0.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Because Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) has witnessed declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few money managers that elected to cut their full holdings at the end of the year. Intriguingly, Christopher MedlockáJames’s Partner Fund Management sold off the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds we monitor, totaling about $123 million in stock.. Peter J. Eichler Jr.’s fund, Aletheia Research and Management, also sold off its stock, about $20 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 5 funds at the end of the year.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)?
Insider buying is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time period, Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the returns shown by the aforementioned studies, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) is an important part of this process.
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