How to Track Institutional Stock Trades (5 Steps)

Select a stock you want to pursue and search for it in the stock quote window of almost any search engine or to any brokerage firm website. Enter the stock symbol and when the quote appears, look for and click the 'research' tab. Some sites, like Yahoo Finance, will display the research options automatically on the same page.
Click on 'ownership' or 'holdings.' Under this tab, you'll see the various entities that own the stock. There will be several choices such as 'Insiders' and a few others. One of the headings will be 'Institutions' or 'Institutional.' Here you will find a list of Institutions that own the stock. You'll see how many shares they own and what percentage they hold of the shares outstanding.
Check to see if you're in good company. What are some of the institutions and are they institutions whose judgment you trust? If what you see piques your interest, then take it a step further.
Track institutional activity in the stock. Since institutions don't typically broadcast their trades so as not to tip their hands to the competition, tracking real-time institutional trades is difficult; however, if you check back a couple of times a day, you'll see trades not long after they've taken place. If there's a change, note if it's an increase or decrease in the institution's holdings. Especially important are any instances of institutions selling all their stock, or a new institution investing in it.
Use the information wisely. If after a few weeks or months you notice institutions are increasing their holdings, you know interest is up on the stock. If the number of shares is dropping from institutions, then momentum is slowing and you should try to find out why before investing. Here's hoping you make a bundle!