Hedge Funds Are Betting On Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR) – Hansen Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNSN), Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc (NASDAQ:ZLTQ)

Is Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR) a buy here? Prominent investors are in an optimistic mood. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went up by 2 in recent months.

To most stock holders, hedge funds are seen as unimportant, outdated financial vehicles of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading at present, we look at the masters of this club, around 450 funds. It is estimated that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of the hedge fund industry’s total asset base, and by monitoring their best picks, we have found a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced 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 trumped the S&P 500 index by 25 percentage points in 6.5 month (see the details here).

Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of reasons for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a peek at the key action encompassing Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR).

How are hedge funds trading Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 22% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.

Of the funds we track, GAMCO Investors, managed by Mario Gabelli, holds the most valuable position in Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR). GAMCO Investors has a $5 million position in the stock, comprising 0% of its 13F portfolio. On GAMCO Investors’s heels is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $5 million position; the fund has 0% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include Joseph Edelman’s Perceptive Advisors, Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital and Gabe Hoffman’s Accipiter Capital Management.

Now, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Driehaus Capital, managed by Richard Driehaus, assembled the most outsized position in Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR). Driehaus Capital had 2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors also initiated a $0 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR). These stocks are Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc (NASDAQ:ZLTQ), Solta Medical Inc (NASDAQ:SLTM), Hansen Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNSN), RTI Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ:RTIX), and Cryolife Inc (NYSE:CRY). This group of stocks belong to the medical appliances & equipment industry and their market caps match CUTR’s market cap.

With the results exhibited by the aforementioned strategies, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR) is no exception.