MTS Systems Corporation (MTSC), II-VI, Inc. (IIVI): Hedge Funds Are Dumping Analogic Corporation (ALOG)

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Analogic Corporation (NASDAQ:ALOG) has experienced a decrease in hedge fund sentiment of late.

Analogic Corporation (NASDAQ:ALOG)

In the eyes of most traders, hedge funds are perceived as slow, old investment tools of the past. While there are over 8000 funds in operation at present, we hone in on the top tier of this group, around 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group oversees the lion’s share of the smart money’s total capital, and by keeping an eye on their best equity investments, we have spotted a few investment strategies that have historically beaten Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have topped the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Just as important, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are a number of incentives for a corporate insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, let’s take a peek at the key action encompassing Analogic Corporation (NASDAQ:ALOG).

What does the smart money think about Analogic Corporation (NASDAQ:ALOG)?

At year’s end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -13% from the third quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the biggest position in Analogic Corporation (NASDAQ:ALOG). Royce & Associates has a $37.3 million position in the stock, comprising 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $16.2 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Judging by the fact that Analogic Corporation (NASDAQ:ALOG) has witnessed falling interest from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there were a few funds that elected to cut their full holdings last quarter. At the top of the heap, Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider’s SG Capital Management sold off the largest position of the 450+ funds we track, totaling close to $8.7 million in stock., and Israel Englander of Millennium Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $6.6 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds last quarter.

Insider trading activity in Analogic Corporation (NASDAQ:ALOG)

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Analogic Corporation (NASDAQ:ALOG) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Analogic Corporation (NASDAQ:ALOG). These stocks are Cubic Corporation (NYSE:CUB), ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE), Ion Geophysical Corp (NYSE:IO), II-VI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IIVI), and MTS Systems Corporation (NASDAQ:MTSC). This group of stocks are the members of the scientific & technical instruments industry and their market caps match ALOG’s market cap.

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