Hedge Funds Are Dumping Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO) – Actuant Corporation (NYSE:ATU), Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI)

Is Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO) going to take off soon? The best stock pickers are selling. The number of long hedge fund positions went down by 3 recently.

To the average investor, there are tons of gauges shareholders can use to monitor the equity markets. A duo 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 top picks of the top fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of stimuli for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if you know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a glance at the key action surrounding Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO).

How are hedge funds trading Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO)?

At year’s end, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -20% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, Longview Asset Management, managed by James A. Star, holds the biggest position in Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO). Longview Asset Management has a $164 million position in the stock, comprising 5.6% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Generation Investment Management, managed by David Blood and Al Gore, which held a $106 million position; 1.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Edward Goodnow’s Goodnow Investment Group, John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies and Drew Cupps’s Cupps Capital Management.

Judging by the fact that Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO) has experienced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of money managers who were dropping their full holdings at the end of the year. It’s worth mentioning that John Thaler’s JAT Capital Management cut the largest investment of all the hedgies we track, valued at about $25 million in stock., and Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich of Scopia Capital was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $22 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 3 funds at the end of the year.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO). These stocks are Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:ZBRA), AIXTRON SE (ADR) (NASDAQ:AIXG), Actuant Corporation (NYSE:ATU), Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE:HI), and Rexnord Corp (NYSE:RXN). This group of stocks belong to the diversified machinery industry and their market caps are closest to PPO’s market cap.

With the results shown by our tactics, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE:PPO) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.