Hologic, Inc. (HOLX): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are many indicators market participants can use to watch stocks. A couple of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top investment managers can beat their index-focused peers by a significant margin (see just how much).

Just as crucial, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the world of equities. Obviously, there are many motivations for an upper level exec to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if shareholders understand where to look (learn more here).

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s important to study the newest info surrounding Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX).

Hedge fund activity in Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX)

Heading into Q3, a total of 34 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 3% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings significantly.

Out of the hedge funds we follow, Osterweis Capital Management, managed by John Osterweis, holds the biggest position in Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX). Osterweis Capital Management has a $65.1 million position in the stock, comprising 2.4% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Sectoral Asset Management, managed by Jerome Pfund and Michael Sjostrom, which held a $51.3 million position; the fund has 1.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Stephen DuBois’s Camber Capital Management, Curtis Macnguyen’s Ivory Capital (Investment Mgmt) and Jacob Doft’s Highline Capital Management.

Consequently, particular hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Soros Fund Management, managed by George Soros, initiated the most valuable position in Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX). Soros Fund Management had 220.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Osterweis’s Osterweis Capital Management also initiated a $65.1 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, JΘr⌠me Pfund and Michael Sj÷str÷m’s Sectoral Asset Management, and James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management.

How have insiders been trading Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX)?

Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time period, Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll also review the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX). These stocks are Smith & Nephew plc (ADR) (NYSE:SNN), Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW), Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRO), Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE:VAR), and ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD). This group of stocks belong to the medical appliances & equipment industry and their market caps are similar to HOLX’s market cap.

Using the results demonstrated by the previously mentioned analyses, regular investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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