Hedge Funds Are Taking A Trip Away From Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc (HOT)

Judging by the fact that Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc (NYSE:HOT) has experienced a large declination in interest from the smart money, logic holds that there were a few hedge funds that decided to sell off their full holdings in the third quarter. Intriguingly, OZ Management said goodbye to the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds watched by Insider Monkey, comprising an estimated $169.3 million of call options underlying shares, though as mentioned, the firm still holds a large long position. Dan Loeb’s fund, Third Point, also said goodbye to its stock, about $81.1 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 15 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc (NYSE:HOT). We will take a look at Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM), Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG), POSCO (ADR) (NYSE:PKX), and Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:DISCA). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble HOT’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 23 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $414 million. That figure was $3.61 billion in HOT’s case. Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand POSCO (ADR) (NYSE:PKX) is the least popular one with only 12 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc (NYSE:HOT) is more popular among hedge funds and has far more money invested in it. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio despite the large decrease in smart money ownership during Q3.