With the third-quarter round of 13F filings behind us it is time to take a look at the stocks in which some of the best money managers in the world preferred to invest or sell heading into the fourth quarter. One of these stocks was Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD).
Is Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) ready to rally soon? Investors who are in the know are getting more optimistic. The number of bullish hedge fund bets increased by 10 in recent months. MTD was in 21 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with MTD positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare MTD to other stocks, including KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC), Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE:IPG), and Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Mettler Toledo International Inc (NYSE:MTD)
Follow Mettler Toledo International Inc (NYSE:MTD)
To the average investor there are many tools shareholders have at their disposal to size up publicly traded companies. Two of the most underrated tools are hedge fund and insider trading activity. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a healthy margin (see the details here).
Now, let’s analyze the recent action surrounding Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD).
What does the smart money think about Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 21 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 91% from the second quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Robert Joseph Caruso’s Select Equity Group has the biggest position in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD), worth close to $269.2 million, comprising 2.6% of its total 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund is Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, with a $16.9 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining professional money managers that are bullish consist of Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management, Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management, and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.
As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers have jumped into Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) headfirst. Point72 Asset Management initiated the most outsized position in Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD). Point72 Asset Management had $11.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also initiated a $8.8 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new MTD investors: D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) but similarly valued. These stocks are KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC), Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE:IPG), Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT), and CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP). This group of stocks’ market caps match MTD’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| KLAC | 28 | 256410 | 4 |
| IPG | 36 | 2103222 | -5 |
| FIT | 20 | 186790 | -7 |
| CNP | 25 | 267330 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 28 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $703 million, higher than the $360 million in MTD’s case. Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE:IPG) is the most popular stock in this table, while Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT) is the least popular one with only 20 bullish hedge fund positions. Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard IPG might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
