Is Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:LIFE) a buy?
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many metrics shareholders can use to track publicly traded companies. A couple of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can beat their index-focused peers by a very impressive amount (see just how much).
Just as necessary, positive insider trading activity is another way to look at the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of motivations for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s study the newest info about Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:LIFE).
What does the smart money think about Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:LIFE)?
At the end of the second quarter, a total of 49 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 9% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.
When using filings from the hedgies we track, Glenview Capital, managed by Larry Robbins, holds the biggest position in Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:LIFE). Glenview Capital has a $755.3 million position in the stock, comprising 6.9% of its 13F portfolio. On Glenview Capital’s heels is Matthew Halbower of Pentwater Capital Management, with a $202.8 million position; 4.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers with similar optimism include Robert Emil Zoellner’s Alpine Associates, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
With a general bullishness amongst the titans, certain bigger names have jumped into Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:LIFE) headfirst. Glenview Capital, managed by Larry Robbins, established the most outsized position in Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:LIFE). Glenview Capital had 755.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Matthew Halbower’s Pentwater Capital Management also made a $202.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
The following funds were also among the new LIFE investors: Robert Emil Zoellner’s Alpine Associates, Keith Meister’s Corvex Capital, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:LIFE)?
Insider buying made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time frame, Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:LIFE) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:LIFE). These stocks are Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO), Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD), Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A), Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH), and Quest Diagnostics Inc (NYSE:DGX). All of these stocks are in the medical laboratories & research industry and their market caps resemble LIFE’s market cap.
