Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Marriott International Inc (MAR)

Due to the fact that Marriott International Inc (NYSE:MAR) has faced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there was a specific group of money managers who sold off their positions entirely last quarter. At the top of the heap, Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital cut the biggest stake of the 700 funds watched by Insider Monkey, worth an estimated $94.4 million in stock. Louis Navellier’s fund, Navellier & Associates, also dropped its stock, about $21 million worth. These moves are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds last quarter.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ:MAR) but similarly valued. These stocks are Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE:XEL), The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR), and Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to MAR’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 35.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1,941 million. That figure was $494 million in MAR’s case. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE:XEL) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Marriott International Inc (NASDAQ:MAR) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard AMAT might be a better candidate to consider a long position.