Here is What Hedge Funds Think About ABB Ltd (ADR) (ABB)

ABB Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ABB) shareholders have witnessed an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers lately.

At the moment, there are a multitude of indicators market participants can use to analyze the equity markets. Two 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 best investment managers can outclass the broader indices by a solid amount (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of reasons for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors know what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the latest action surrounding ABB Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ABB).

What have hedge funds been doing with ABB Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ABB)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 38% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Levin Capital Strategies, managed by John A. Levin, holds the most valuable position in ABB Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ABB). Levin Capital Strategies has a $16.4 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Matthew Hulsizer of PEAK6 Capital Management, with a $5.8 million call position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers that hold long positions include David Dreman’s Dreman Value Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Robert Raiff’s Raiff Partners.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Raiff Partners, managed by Robert Raiff, created the biggest position in ABB Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ABB). Raiff Partners had 2.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management also made a $0.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new ABB investors: Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Mike Vranos’s Ellington.

How are insiders trading ABB Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ABB)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time frame, ABB Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ABB) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to ABB Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ABB). These stocks are REGAL-BELOIT CORPORATION (NYSE:RBC), Nidec Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NJ), AMETEK, Inc. (NYSE:AME), Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK), and Eaton Corporation, PLC Ordinary Shares (NYSE:ETN). This group of stocks are in the industrial electrical equipment industry and their market caps are similar to ABB’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned strategies, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and ABB Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ABB) is an important part of this process.

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