Hedge Funds Are Selling Teleflex Incorporated (TFX)

Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) has experienced a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late.

In the financial world, there are tons of indicators investors can use to track publicly traded companies. Some of the most innovative 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 fund managers can outperform the S&P 500 by a significant margin (see just how much).

Just as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of stimuli for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a gander at the key action encompassing Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX).

What have hedge funds been doing with Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -18% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, John Osterweis’s Osterweis Capital Management had the most valuable position in Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX), worth close to $87 million, comprising 3.3% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Third Avenue Management, managed by Martin Whitman, which held a $64.9 million position; 1.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Since Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) has witnessed declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there were a few fund managers that slashed their positions entirely heading into Q2. At the top of the heap, Amy Minella’s Cardinal Capital sold off the biggest investment of the 450+ funds we watch, valued at an estimated $22.2 million in stock., and Matthew Tewksbury of Stevens Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $0.8 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 3 funds heading into Q2.

How have insiders been trading Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, 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 Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX). These stocks are Haemonetics Corporation (NYSE:HAE), Thoratec Corporation (NASDAQ:THOR), West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST), The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO), and Mindray Medical International Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:MR). This group of stocks belong to the medical instruments & supplies industry and their market caps match TFX’s market cap.

With the returns shown by Insider Monkey’s tactics, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) is no exception.

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