Entegris Inc (ENTG): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Is Entegris Inc (NASDAQ:ENTG) a bargain? Hedge funds are becoming hopeful. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went up by 1 lately.

In the eyes of most investors, hedge funds are seen as worthless, old investment tools of years past. While there are more than 8000 funds with their doors open at the moment, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the aristocrats of this club, about 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group controls most of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by watching their top picks, we have deciphered a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed 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 outperformed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of incentives for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).

Now, let’s take a peek at the key action regarding Entegris Inc (NASDAQ:ENTG).

What have hedge funds been doing with Entegris Inc (NASDAQ:ENTG)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 7% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, GMT Capital, managed by Thomas E. Claugus, holds the largest position in Entegris Inc (NASDAQ:ENTG). GMT Capital has a $139.8 million position in the stock, comprising 3.2% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $44.5 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds with similar optimism include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital and Richard Chilton’s Chilton Investment Company.

As one would reasonably expect, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Polar Capital, managed by Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley, created the biggest position in Entegris Inc (NASDAQ:ENTG). Polar Capital had 4.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also initiated a $0.5 million position during the quarter.

How have insiders been trading Entegris Inc (NASDAQ:ENTG)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, Entegris Inc (NASDAQ:ENTG) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 12 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns shown by our research, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Entegris Inc (NASDAQ:ENTG) applies perfectly to this mantra.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds