Hedge Funds Are Buying ICU Medical, Incorporated (ICUI)

ICU Medical, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ICUI) was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. ICUI shareholders have witnessed an increase in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with ICUI positions at the end of the previous quarter.

If you’d ask most investors, hedge funds are seen as slow, old investment tools of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading today, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the aristocrats of this club, close to 450 funds. It is estimated that this group controls most of the smart money’s total asset base, and by monitoring their best picks, we have unearthed a few investment strategies that have historically beaten the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per annum 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 outpaced the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (explore the details and some picks here).

Just as key, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of incentives for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a look at the latest action regarding ICU Medical, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ICUI).

How have hedgies been trading ICU Medical, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ICUI)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 17% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the most valuable position in ICU Medical, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ICUI), worth close to $14.3 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which held a $9.2 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that are bullish include Ron Gutfleish’s Elm Ridge Capital, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates.

Now, some big names were breaking ground themselves. Elm Ridge Capital, managed by Ron Gutfleish, initiated the most valuable position in ICU Medical, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ICUI). Elm Ridge Capital had 2.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also initiated a $1.8 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new ICUI investors: Mike Vranos’s Ellington, Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

How are insiders trading ICU Medical, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ICUI)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, ICU Medical, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ICUI) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to ICU Medical, Incorporated (NASDAQ:ICUI). These stocks are Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ:LMNX), Endologix, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELGX), Conceptus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPTS), Tornier N.V. (NASDAQ:TRNX), and Cantel Medical Corp. (NYSE:CMN). This group of stocks belong to the medical instruments & supplies industry and their market caps match ICUI’s market cap.