At Holdings Channel, we have reviewed the latest batch of the 21 most recent 13F filings for the 12/31/2018 reporting period, and noticed that Altria Group Inc (MO) was held by 14 of these funds. When hedge fund managers appear to be thinking alike, we find it is a good idea to take a closer look.

Before we proceed, it is important to point out that 13F filings do not tell the whole story, because these funds are only required to disclose their long positions with the SEC, but are not required to disclose their short positions. A fund making a bearish bet against a stock by shorting calls, for example, might also be long some amount of stock as they trade around their overall bearish position. This long component could show up in a 13F filing and everyone might assume the fund is bullish, but this tells only part of the story because the bearish/short side of the position is not seen.

Having given that caveat, we believe that looking at groups of 13F filings can be revealing, especially when comparing one holding period to another. Below, let’s take a look at the change in MO positions, for this latest batch of 13F filers:

Fund New Position? Change In Share Count Change In Market Value ($ in 1000’s)
South Street Advisors LLC Existing –910 –$160
Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P. Existing UNCH –$74
Wade G W & Inc. Existing –30 –$74
SWS Partners Existing –13,979 –$1,158
RPG Investment Advisory LLC Existing UNCH –$11
Clear Perspective Advisors LLC Existing –281 –$176
Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Existing +157 –$103
Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Existing +615 +$30
Coho Partners Ltd. Existing –84,671 –$25,655
Certified Advisory Corp Existing –3,888 –$383
Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. NEW +5,684 +$278
Mutual of Omaha Bank Wealth Management Existing –1,494 –$214
Murphy Capital Management Inc. Existing –2,539 –$1,614
Optimum Investment Advisors Existing UNCH –$103
Aggregate Change: –101,336 –$29,417

In terms of shares owned, we count 2 of the above funds having increased existing MO positions from 09/30/2018 to 12/31/2018, with 8 having decreased their positions and 1 new position.

Looking beyond these particular funds in this one batch of most recent filers, we tallied up the MO share count in the aggregate among all of the funds which held MO at the 12/31/2018 reporting period (out of the 1,350 we looked at in total). We then compared that number to the sum total of MO shares those same funds held back at the 09/30/2018 period, to see how the aggregate share count held by hedge funds has moved for MO. We found that between these two periods, funds increased their holdings by 2,063,380 shares in the aggregate, from 60,161,183 up to 62,224,563 for a share count increase of approximately 3.43%. The overall top three funds holding MO on 12/31/2018 were:

  Fund Shares of MO Held
1. USS Investment Management Ltd 3,997,252
2. Troy Asset Management Ltd 3,949,576
3. Bank of Montreal Can 3,273,426
4-10 Find out the full Top 10 Hedge Funds Holding MO  

We’ll keep following the latest 13F filings by hedge fund managers and bring you interesting stories derived from a look at the aggregate information across groups of managers between filing periods. While looking at individual 13F filings can sometimes be misleading due to the long-only nature of the information, the sum total across groups of funds from one reporting period to another can be a lot more revealing and relevant, providing interesting stock ideas that merit further research, like Altria Group Inc (MO).