3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) shareholders have witnessed an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late.
According to most shareholders, hedge funds are seen as unimportant, outdated investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are more than 8000 funds trading at present, we at Insider Monkey look at the crème de la crème of this group, around 450 funds. It is estimated that this group oversees the lion’s share of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by watching their top investments, we have deciphered a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).
Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is a second way to break down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are many incentives for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, let’s take a look at the latest action regarding 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD).
What have hedge funds been doing with 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 20% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Chase Coleman and Feroz Dewan’s Tiger Global Management LLC had the most valuable position in 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD), worth close to $77.8 million, comprising 1.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which held a $15.7 million call position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, Christopher Lord’s Criterion Capital and Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management.
As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Arrowstreet Capital, managed by Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell, created the most outsized position in 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD). Arrowstreet Capital had 9.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Christopher Lord’s Criterion Capital also made a $3.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new DDD investors: Philip Hempleman’s Ardsley Partners, Philippe Jabre’s Jabre Capital Partners, and Michael Hintze’s CQS Cayman LP.
How have insiders been trading 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD). These stocks are Babcock & Wilcox Co (NYSE:BWC), Crane Co. (NYSE:CR), Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII), Sauer-Danfoss Inc. (NYSE:SHS), and The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD). This group of stocks are in the diversified machinery industry and their market caps match DDD’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Babcock & Wilcox Co (NYSE:BWC) | 27 | 1 | 1 |
| Crane Co. (NYSE:CR) | 25 | 0 | 9 |
| Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) | 17 | 0 | 7 |
| Sauer-Danfoss Inc. (NYSE:SHS) | 14 | 1 | 0 |
| The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD) | 20 | 0 | 2 |
With the results demonstrated by the aforementioned studies, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) applies perfectly to this mantra.
