Here is What Hedge Funds Think About IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (IDXX)

We can judge whether IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) is a good investment right now by following the lead of some of the best investors in the world and piggybacking their ideas. There’s no better way to get these firms’ immense resources and analytical capabilities working for us than to follow their lead into their best ideas. While not all of these picks will be winners, research shows that these picks historically outperformed the market when we factor in known risk factors.

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) has experienced a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money lately. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as KT Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:KT), Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH), and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) to gather more data points.

Keeping this in mind, let’s view the new action surrounding IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX).

Hedge fund activity in IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX)

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 26 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -7% from the second quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Robert Joseph Caruso’s Select Equity Group has the most valuable position in IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX), worth close to $307.7 million, accounting for 2.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $131.5 million position; 0.7% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other members of the smart money that hold long positions encompass Richard Chilton’s Chilton Investment Company, Columbus Circle Investors and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.

Seeing as IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) has witnessed a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, logic holds that there lies a certain “tier” of hedge funds that slashed their full holdings by the end of the third quarter. At the top of the heap, Greg Poole’s Echo Street Capital Management dumped the largest stake of the 700 funds monitored by Insider Monkey, valued at close to $5.7 million in stock. Israel Englander’s fund, Catapult Capital Management, also dropped its stock, about $4.8 million worth. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds by the end of the third quarter.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX). We will take a look at KT Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:KT), Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY), and LG Display Co Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:LPL). This group of stocks’ market values resemble IDXX’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 21.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $281 million. That figure was $697 million in IDXX’s case. Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand KT Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:KT) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard ASH might be a better candidate to consider a long position.