Is Roper Technologies Inc (ROP) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

We at Insider Monkey have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the government. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article, we look at what those funds think of Roper Technologies Inc (NYSE:ROP) based on that data.

Roper Technologies Inc (NYSE:ROP) was in 28 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. ROP has seen an increase in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months. There were 25 hedge funds in our database with ROP holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare ROP to other stocks, including Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH), Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB), and NetEase, Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:NTES) to get a better sense of its popularity.

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According to most shareholders, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, old investment tools of years past. While there are more than 8000 funds with their doors open at the moment, Our experts hone in on the crème de la crème of this group, around 700 funds. These hedge fund managers preside over bulk of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by monitoring their finest picks, Insider Monkey has figured out a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped Mr. Market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outrun the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points a year for a decade in their back tests.

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a glance at the key action regarding Roper Technologies Inc (NYSE:ROP).

How have hedgies been trading Roper Technologies Inc (NYSE:ROP)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 28 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, an increase of 12% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Dan Loeb’s Third Point has the most valuable position in Roper Technologies Inc (NYSE:ROP), worth close to $250.7 million, accounting for 2.4% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Akre Capital Management, managed by Charles Akre, which holds a $211.4 million position; the fund has 4.9% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions consist of Ian Simm’s Impax Asset Management, Charles Clough’s Clough Capital Partners and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have jumped into Roper Technologies Inc (NYSE:ROP) headfirst. Clough Capital Partners, managed by Charles Clough, initiated the largest position in Roper Technologies Inc (NYSE:ROP). The fund had $35.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. David Harding’s Winton Capital Management also initiated a $20.5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Greg Poole’s Echo Street Capital Management, Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management, and George Hall’s Clinton Group.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Roper Technologies Inc (NYSE:ROP) but similarly valued. These stocks are Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH), Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB), NetEase, Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:NTES), and Endo Health Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:ENDP). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble ROP’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
APH 26 433051 3
CPB 25 146622 5
NTES 26 2385050 -10
ENDP 61 4133074 -6

As you can see these stocks had an average of 35 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1.77 billion. Endo Health Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:ENDP) is the most popular stock in this table, while Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) is the least popular one with only 25 bullish hedge fund positions. Roper Technologies Inc (NYSE:ROP) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average and the $683 million worth of stock held by top funds is below the average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard ENDP might be a better candidate to consider a long position.