RBC Bearings Incorporated (ROLL), Proto Labs Inc (PRLB): Hedge Funds Are Dumping Kennametal Inc. (KMT)

Is Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) going to take off soon? Hedge funds are getting less optimistic. The number of bullish hedge fund positions were trimmed by 7 recently.

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Now, it’s important to take a glance at the latest action encompassing Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT).

How have hedgies been trading Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -35% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the largest position in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT). Royce & Associates has a $300.6 million position in the stock, comprising 1% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Alexander Roepers of Atlantic Investment Management, with a $156 million position; the fund has 12.8% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers with similar optimism include Martin Whitman’s Third Avenue Management, Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

Since Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) has witnessed falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s easy to see that there is a sect of money managers that elected to cut their positions entirely heading into 2013. Intriguingly, John Murphy’s Alydar Capital said goodbye to the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we track, valued at about $11.1 million in call options. Steven Cohen’s fund, SAC Capital Advisors, also dropped its stock, about $4.7 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 7 funds heading into 2013.

How have insiders been trading Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time period, Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT). These stocks are Kaydon Corporation (NYSE:KDN), RBC Bearings Incorporated (NASDAQ:ROLL), Proto Labs Inc (NYSE:PRLB), The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR), and MRC Global Inc (NYSE:MRC). This group of stocks are the members of the machine tools & accessories industry and their market caps are similar to KMT’s market cap.