This Metric Says You Are Smart to Sell Evercore Partners Inc. (EVR)

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To many traders, hedge funds are assumed to be bloated, outdated investment tools of a period lost to current times. Although there are In excess of 8,000 hedge funds trading today, Insider Monkey looks at the crème de la crème of this group, about 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group oversees the majority of the smart money’s total assets, and by tracking their highest performing investments, we’ve formulated a few investment strategies that have historically outpaced Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have trumped the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (see all of our picks from August).

Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR)

Just as necessary, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to analyze the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are a number of motivations for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if investors know where to look (learn more here).

Furthermore, it’s important to discuss the latest info about Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR).

What have hedge funds been doing with Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR)?

In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -19% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group had the most valuable position in Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR), worth close to $21.9 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. On Citadel Investment Group’s heels is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $18.7 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Brian Taylor’s Pine River Capital Management, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates and Van Schreiber’s Bennett Lawrence Management.

Because Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR) has experienced dropping sentiment from upper-tier hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few hedge funds that decided to sell off their entire stakes in Q1. It’s worth mentioning that Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors cut the largest position of the 450+ funds we monitor, valued at close to $15.8 million in stock, and Andrew Sandler of Sandler Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $5.3 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds in Q1.

How have insiders been trading Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE:EVR). These stocks are Financial Engines Inc (NASDAQ:FNGN), Cohen & Steers, Inc. (NYSE:CNS), Virtus Investment Partners Inc (NASDAQ:VRTS), Gamco Investors Inc. (NYSE:GBL), and WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NASDAQ:WETF). This group of stocks are the members of the asset management industry and their market caps are closest to EVR’s market cap.

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