Is Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR) a worthy investment right now? Prominent investors are turning bullish. The number of long hedge fund bets advanced by 8 lately.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of methods investors can use to track their holdings. A duo of the most under-the-radar 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 outperform the broader indices by a very impressive amount (see just how much).
Equally as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are a variety of motivations for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action encompassing Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR).
How are hedge funds trading Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 41 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 24% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Trian Partners, managed by Nelson Peltz, holds the biggest position in Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR). Trian Partners has a $741 million position in the stock, comprising 15.8% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Ralph V. Whitworth of Relational Investors, with a $515.3 million position; 9.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other peers that hold long positions include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management and Jonathon Jacobson’s Highfields Capital Management.
Now, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. OZ Management, managed by Daniel S. Och, initiated the biggest position in Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR). OZ Management had 156 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management also initiated a $110.8 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new IR positions are Thomas Steyer’s Farallon Capital, Alexander Mitchell’s Scopus Asset Management, and Jacob Doft’s Highline Capital Management.
What have insiders been doing with Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR)?
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 13 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR). These stocks are Pentair, Ltd. Registered Share (NYSE:PNR), Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI), Dover Corp (NYSE:DOV), Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP), and Kubota Corp (ADR) (NYSE:KUB). This group of stocks are in the diversified machinery industry and their market caps are closest to IR’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Pentair, Ltd. Registered Share (NYSE:PNR) | 33 | 0 | 11 |
| Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) | 34 | 0 | 8 |
| Dover Corp (NYSE:DOV) | 20 | 0 | 4 |
| Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) | 19 | 0 | 4 |
| Kubota Corp (ADR) (NYSE:KUB) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
With the returns demonstrated by our time-tested strategies, retail investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
