At Holdings Channel, we have reviewed the latest batch of the 28 most recent 13F filings for the 03/31/2022 reporting period, and noticed that Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) was held by 17 of these funds. When hedge fund managers appear to be thinking alike, we find it is a good idea to take a closer look.

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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 EMR positions, for this latest batch of 13F filers:

In terms of shares owned, we count 2 of the above funds having increased existing EMR positions from 12/31/2021 to 03/31/2022, with 9 having decreased their positions and 1 new position. Worth noting is that FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc., and Riverwater Partners LLC, included in this recent batch of 13F filers, exited EMR common stock as of 03/31/2022.

Looking beyond these particular funds in this one batch of most recent filers, we tallied up the EMR share count in the aggregate among all of the funds which held EMR at the 03/31/2022 reporting period (out of the 1,836 we looked at in total). We then compared that number to the sum total of EMR shares those same funds held back at the 12/31/2021 period, to see how the aggregate share count held by hedge funds has moved for EMR. We found that between these two periods, funds increased their holdings by 4,754,285 shares in the aggregate, from 26,690,761 up to 31,445,046 for a share count increase of approximately 17.81%. The overall top three funds holding EMR on 03/31/2022 were: