In the eyes of many market players, hedge funds are viewed as bloated, outdated investment tools of a period lost to current times. Although there are In excess of 8,000 hedge funds with their doors open currently, this site focuses on the bigwigs of this group, close to 525 funds. Analysts calculate that this group oversees the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total assets, and by paying attention to their highest quality stock picks, we’ve uncovered a few investment strategies that have historically outperformed the market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outclassed the S&P 500 index by 33 percentage points in 11 months (see all of our picks from August).
Just as crucial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to look at the world of equities. Obviously, there are lots of reasons for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if you understand what to do (learn more here).
What’s more, it’s important to study the newest info about STERIS Corp (NYSE:STE).
What have hedge funds been doing with STERIS Corp (NYSE:STE)?
In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 20 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 11% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.
According to our 13F database, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had the biggest position in STERIS Corp (NYSE:STE), worth close to $73.1 million, accounting for 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio. On Fisher Asset Management’s heels is Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $53 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Consequently, certain money managers were breaking ground themselves. Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, created the biggest position in STERIS Corp (NYSE:STE). Fisher Asset Management had 73.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates also made a $53 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new STE investors: Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about STERIS Corp (NYSE:STE)?
Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, STERIS Corp (NYSE:STE) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero 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 STERIS Corp (NYSE:STE). These stocks are Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRO), Mine Safety Appliances (NYSE:MSA), Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN), Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH), and Opko Health Inc. (NYSE:OPK). This group of stocks are the members of the medical appliances & equipment industry and their market caps match STE’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRO) | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| Mine Safety Appliances (NYSE:MSA) | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Techne Corporation (NASDAQ:TECH) | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Opko Health Inc. (NYSE:OPK) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Using the results demonstrated by the previously mentioned analyses, average investors must always keep one eye on hedge fund and insider trading activity, and STERIS Corp (NYSE:STE) is an important part of this process.
