Hedge Funds Are Buying Align Technology, Inc. (ALGN)

Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) has seen an increase in hedge fund interest of late.

In the financial world, there are a multitude of metrics investors can use to analyze their holdings. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can trounce the broader indices by a significant margin (see just how much).

Equally as key, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. There are many stimuli for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if shareholders understand what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a peek at the latest action encompassing Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN).

What have hedge funds been doing with Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 6% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.

Of the funds we track, Jerome Pfund and Michael Sjostrom’s Sectoral Asset Management had the most valuable position in Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN), worth close to $86.7 million, accounting for 2.7% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Partner Fund Management, managed by Christopher Medlock James, which held a $33.8 million position; 1.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include Jeremy Green’s Redmile Group, SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors and Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors.

Now, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Sectoral Asset Management, managed by Jerome Pfund and Michael Sjostrom, created the most valuable position in Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN). Sectoral Asset Management had 86.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors also initiated a $21.5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Mariko Gordon’s Daruma Asset Management, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

How have insiders been trading Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time frame, Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN). These stocks are Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRO), Mine Safety Appliances (NYSE:MSA), STERIS Corp (NYSE:STE), Opko Health Inc. (NYSE:OPK), and Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH). This group of stocks are in the medical appliances & equipment industry and their market caps are similar to ALGN’s market cap.