Is Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:IART) an exceptional stock to buy now? Investors who are in the know are betting on the stock. The number of long hedge fund positions went up by 3 lately.
In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are assumed to be underperforming, old investment vehicles of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading today, we at Insider Monkey choose to focus on the aristocrats of this club, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group has its hands on the lion’s share of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by watching their top equity investments, we have unsheathed a few investment strategies that have historically outstripped Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually 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 beaten the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see all of our picks from August).
Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the world of equities. There are a number of motivations for an insider to cut 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 useful potential of this strategy if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).
Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a peek at the key action encompassing Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:IART).
How are hedge funds trading Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:IART)?
Heading into Q2, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 30% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
the funds we track, Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, holds the most valuable position in Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:IART). Fisher Asset Management has a $19.7 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by David Dreman of Dreman Value Management, with a $16.5 million position; 0.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Mark Broach’s Manatuck Hill Partners and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.
As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Dreman Value Management, managed by David Dreman, created the biggest position in Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:IART). Dreman Value Management had 16.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments also made a $0.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new IART investors: Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:IART)?
Bullish insider trading is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:IART) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:IART). These stocks are HeartWare International Inc (NASDAQ:HTWR), ICU Medical, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ICUI), Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ:PODD), Endologix, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELGX), and DexCom, Inc. (NASDAQ:DXCM). This group of stocks belong to the medical instruments & supplies industry and their market caps are similar to IART’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| HeartWare International Inc (NASDAQ:HTWR) | 19 | 0 | 10 |
| ICU Medical, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ICUI) | 14 | 0 | 2 |
| Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ:PODD) | 14 | 0 | 4 |
| Endologix, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELGX) | 14 | 0 | 5 |
| DexCom, Inc. (NASDAQ:DXCM) | 19 | 1 | 8 |
With the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s research, everyday investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp (NASDAQ:IART) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
