Hedge Funds Are Buying Roper Industries, Inc. (ROP)

Should Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) investors track the following data?

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many methods shareholders can use to analyze stocks. Some of the most innovative 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 fund managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to look at the stock market universe. Obviously, there are many stimuli for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

Thus, let’s study the newest info surrounding Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP).

What have hedge funds been doing with Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP)?

At Q2’s end, a total of 24 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 26% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the biggest position in Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP). Renaissance Technologies has a $50.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is SAC Capital Advisors, managed by Steven Cohen, which held a $41.5 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.

As aggregate interest spiked, certain money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, created the biggest position in Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP). Renaissance Technologies had 50.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors also initiated a $41.5 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new ROP investors: David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.

Insider trading activity in Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP)

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time frame, Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP). These stocks are Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS), Kubota Corp (ADR) (NYSE:KUB), Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR), Pentair, Ltd. Registered Share (NYSE:PNR), and Dover Corp (NYSE:DOV). All of these stocks are in the diversified machinery industry and their market caps are similar to ROP’s market cap.

Using the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s analyses, regular investors should always track hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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