Is Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) has seen an increase in hedge fund sentiment in recent months.

In today’s marketplace, there are dozens of methods investors can use to watch Mr. Market. A pair of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a solid margin (see just how much).

Just as key, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are many stimuli for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a gander at the latest action regarding Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP).

What does the smart money think about Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 23% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management had the largest position in Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP), worth close to $23 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is D. E. Shaw of D E Shaw, with a $20 million position; the fund has 0% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

As industrywide interest jumped, some big names have jumped into Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) headfirst. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, initiated the largest position in Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP). Renaissance Technologies had 14 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Bruce Kovner’s Caxton Associates LP also initiated a $5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, and David Costen Haley’s HBK Investments.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns demonstrated by our tactics, everyday investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) is no exception.

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