Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO) Anymore

The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO) has experienced a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately.

To the average investor, there are a multitude of indicators investors can use to watch Mr. Market. A pair of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can outpace the broader indices by a significant margin (see just how much).

Equally as key, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are many stimuli for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if you know where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action surrounding The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO).

How have hedgies been trading The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO)?

At year’s end, a total of 21 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -5% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors had the most valuable position in The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO), worth close to $69 million, accounting for 0.6% of its total 13F portfolio. On Columbus Circle Investors’s heels is Hoplite Capital Management, managed by John Lykouretzos, which held a $37 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors and Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management.

Seeing as The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO) has faced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, we can see that there lies a certain “tier” of money managers who sold off their positions entirely at the end of the year. Intriguingly, Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group dropped the largest position of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, comprising an estimated $11 million in stock.. Dmitry Balyasny’s fund, Balyasny Asset Management, also said goodbye to its stock, about $10 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds at the end of the year.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 12 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns exhibited by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO) is an important part of this process.

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