Hedge Funds Are Crazy About IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (IDXX)

Is it smart to be bullish on IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX)?

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of indicators market participants can use to watch the equity markets. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a solid amount (see just how much).

Equally as necessary, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to analyze the world of equities. There are plenty of stimuli for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Furthermore, we’re going to analyze the recent info about IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX).

How have hedgies been trading IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX)?

Heading into Q3, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 27% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX), worth close to $146.8 million, comprising 0.5% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $30.7 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include Bill Miller’s Legg Mason Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management.

As aggregate interest spiked, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, established the largest position in IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX). Royce & Associates had 146.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also made a $30.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new IDXX investors: Bill Miller’s Legg Mason Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management.

How have insiders been trading IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX)?

Insider buying made by high-level executives is best served when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX). These stocks are Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ:SNTA), Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL), Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIVO), Abaxis Inc (NASDAQ:ABAX), and Neogen Corporation (NASDAQ:NEOG). This group of stocks are in the diagnostic substances industry and their market caps match IDXX’s market cap.

Using the returns explained by Insider Monkey’s strategies, average investors should always track hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) is an important part of this process.

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