Hedge Funds Are Crazy About 3D Systems Corporation (DDD)

A boatload of hedge funds were upping their stakes in 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) last quarter. Let’s take a look at the details.

In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of gauges investors can use to analyze stocks. A couple of the most innovative 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 fund managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a solid margin (see just how much).

Equally as necessary, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are a variety of stimuli for a corporate insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Many empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).

Furthermore, let’s analyze the latest info about 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD).

How have hedgies been trading 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD)?

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 21 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 75% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.

According to our 13F database, Chase Coleman and Feroz Dewan’s Tiger Global Management LLC had the most valuable position in 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD), worth close to $55.9 million, accounting for 1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which held a $12.4 million call position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors, Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management and Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital.

As industrywide interest increased, certain money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Tiger Global Management LLC, managed by Chase Coleman and Feroz Dewan, initiated the largest position in 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD). Tiger Global Management LLC had 55.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also initiated a $12.4 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors, Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management, and Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital.

Insider trading activity in 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD)

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) has seen 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 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD). These stocks are Babcock & Wilcox Co (NYSE:BWC), Crane Co. (NYSE:CR), Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII) and The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ:MIDD). All of these stocks are in the diversified machinery industry and their market caps are closest to DDD’s market cap.