Hedge Funds Are Dumping Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (BRKS)

Is Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS) the right investment to pursue these days? The smart money is in a pessimistic mood. The number of long hedge fund bets were cut by 3 recently.

In today’s marketplace, there are tons of gauges market participants can use to monitor Mr. Market. A duo of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. There are a variety of reasons for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a peek at the key action encompassing Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS).

How are hedge funds trading Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -25% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the biggest position in Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS), worth close to $41.7 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Polaris Capital Management, managed by Bernard Horn, which held a $31.4 million position; 1.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk’s GRT Capital Partners.

Because Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, we can see that there is a sect of money managers that slashed their entire stakes at the end of the first quarter. Interestingly, Jason F. Harris’s Kendall Square Capital dumped the largest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we track, comprising about $1.9 million in stock., and Israel Englander of Millennium Management was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $0.8 million worth. These moves are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds at the end of the first quarter.

What have insiders been doing with Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS). These stocks are ChipMOS Technologies (Bermuda) Ltd (NASDAQ:IMOS), Intermolecular Inc (NASDAQ:IMI), Tessera Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSRA), Kulicke and Soffa Industries Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC), and ATMI Inc (NASDAQ:ATMI). All of these stocks are in the semiconductor equipment & materials industry and their market caps are closest to BRKS’s market cap.

With the returns shown by our strategies, everyday investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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