It is already common knowledge that individual investors do not usually have the necessary resources and abilities to properly research an investment opportunity. As a result, most investors pick their illusory “winners” by making a superficial analysis and research that leads to poor performance on aggregate. The Standard and Poor’s 500 Index returned 5.2% over the 12-month period ending October 30, while more than 51% of the constituents of the index underperformed the benchmark. Hence, a random stock picking process will most likely lead to disappointment. At the same time, the 30 most favored S&P 500 stocks by the hedge funds monitored by Insider Monkey (as of September 2014) generated a return of 9.5% over the same time span, with 63% of these stocks outperforming the benchmark. Of course, hedge funds do make wrong bets on some occasions and these get disproportionately publicized on financial media, but piggybacking their moves can beat the broader market on average. That’s why we are going to go over recent hedge fund activity in QTS Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:QTS).
Is QTS Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:QTS) a sound stock to buy now? Hedge funds are getting less optimistic. The number of bullish hedge fund bets decreased by six in recent months. At the end of this article we will also compare QTS to other stocks including Endurance International Group Hldgs Inc (NASDAQ:EIGI), Pinnacle Financial Partners (NASDAQ:PNFP), and Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Qts Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE:QTS)
Follow Qts Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE:QTS)
In the financial world there are numerous formulas market participants put to use to grade their stock investments. Some of the most underrated formulas are hedge fund and insider trading interest. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top money managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a solid margin (see the details here).
With all of this in mind, let’s analyze the recent action encompassing QTS Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:QTS).
What does the smart money think about QTS Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:QTS)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 10 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -38% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management has the biggest position in QTS Realty Trust Inc (NYSE:QTS), worth close to $18.1 million, accounting for less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $12.8 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions encompass Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management.