Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Flowserve Corporation (FLS)

Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS) shareholders have witnessed an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are plenty of metrics investors can use to monitor their holdings. A pair of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can outpace the broader indices by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are many motivations for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action surrounding Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS).

What does the smart money think about Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 25 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 4% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.

Of the funds we track, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors had the largest position in Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS), worth close to $183.3 million, accounting for 1.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Jean-Marie Eveillard of First Eagle Investment Management, with a $106.7 million position; the fund has 0.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that are bullish include David Cohen and Harold Levy’s Iridian Asset Management, Martin D. Sass’s MD Sass and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

As one would reasonably expect, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Adage Capital Management, managed by Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson, initiated the biggest position in Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS). Adage Capital Management had 12.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. SAC Subsidiary’s Sigma Capital Management also made a $4.9 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new FLS positions are Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, Mike Vranos’s Ellington, and Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management.

How have insiders been trading Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time frame, Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS). These stocks are Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP), Dover Corp (NYSE:DOV), Pentair, Ltd. Registered Share (NYSE:PNR), and Pall Corporation (NYSE:PLL). All of these stocks are in the diversified machinery industry and their market caps are similar to FLS’s market cap.