Do Hedge Funds Love Rockwell Collins, Inc. (COL)?

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Based on the fact that hedge funds have collectively under-performed the market for several years, it would be easy to assume that their stock picks simply aren’t very good. However, our research shows this not to be the case. In fact, when it comes to their very top picks collectively, they show a strong ability to pick winning stocks. Between November 1, 2014 and October 30 of this year, less than 49% of the stocks in the S&P 500 beat the market. However, hedge funds’ top 30 stock picks from the index had a much higher success rate than this, at 63%. The returns from these 30 stocks also easily bested the broader market, at 9.5% compared to 5.2%, despite there being a few duds in there like Micron and Anadarko (even their collective wisdom isn’t perfect). The results show that there is plenty of merit to imitating the collective wisdom of top investors.

Is Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE:COL) a bargain? The smart money is reducing their bets on the stock. The number of long hedge fund positions were cut by 3 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 D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI), SL Green Realty Corp (NYSE:SLG), and CBRE Group Inc (NYSE:CBG) to gather more data points.

Follow Rockwell Collins Inc (NYSE:COL)

With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a glance at the recent action regarding Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE:COL).

How have hedgies been trading Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE:COL)?

At Q3’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of -15% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group has the biggest position in Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE:COL), worth close to $74 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $43.1 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other professional money managers that hold long positions include David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, D E Shaw and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

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