Hedge Funds Are Buying Orthofix International NV (OFIX)

Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX) investors should pay attention to an increase in enthusiasm from smart money lately.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of gauges shareholders can use to watch stocks. A couple of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can outclass the broader indices by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the financial markets. There are many stimuli for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this strategy if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a glance at the latest action encompassing Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX).

How have hedgies been trading Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 9% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Diamond Hill Capital, managed by Ric Dillon, holds the most valuable position in Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX). Diamond Hill Capital has a $17.8 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Dreman Value Management, managed by David Dreman, which held a $11 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers have been driving this bullishness. Diamond Hill Capital, managed by Ric Dillon, initiated the most outsized position in Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX). Diamond Hill Capital had 17.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management also made a $11 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new OFIX investors: Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Jay Venkatesen’s Ayer Capital Management.

Insider trading activity in Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX) has seen 6 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Orthofix International NV (NASDAQ:OFIX). These stocks are MAKO Surgical Corp. (NASDAQ:MAKO), The Spectranetics Corporation (NASDAQ:SPNC), NxStage Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTM), ABIOMED, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABMD), and Greatbatch Inc (NYSE:GB). This group of stocks belong to the medical appliances & equipment industry and their market caps are similar to OFIX’s market cap.