RTI Biologics Inc. (RTIX): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock? – Cutera, Inc. (CUTR), Palomar Medical Technologies Inc (PMTI)

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RTI Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ:RTIX) has experienced an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently.

In the eyes of most traders, hedge funds are seen as unimportant, outdated investment tools of years past. While there are over 8000 funds trading at the moment, we at Insider Monkey look at the masters of this club, around 450 funds. It is estimated that this group controls the majority of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by tracking their highest performing stock picks, we have figured out a few investment strategies that have historically beaten Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points a year 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 trumped the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (check out a sample of our picks).

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Now, let’s take a glance at the recent action encompassing RTI Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ:RTIX).

How have hedgies been trading RTI Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ:RTIX)?

At year’s end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 17% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Manatuck Hill Partners, managed by Mark Broach, holds the most valuable position in RTI Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ:RTIX). Manatuck Hill Partners has a $2.1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Renaissance Technologies, managed by RENAISSANCE TECHNOLOGIESJim Simons, which held a $2 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors, Nathan Fischel’s DAFNA Capital Management and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. McKinley Capital Management, managed by Robert B. Gillam, initiated the most valuable position in RTI Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ:RTIX). McKinley Capital Management had 0.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Joseph Edelman’s Perceptive Advisors also made a $0.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Andy Redleaf’s Whitebox Advisors and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.

Insider trading activity in RTI Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ:RTIX)

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last six-month time frame, RTI Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ:RTIX) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to RTI Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ:RTIX). These stocks are Hansen Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:HNSN), Cryolife Inc (NYSE:CRY), Exactech, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXAC), Palomar Medical Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:PMTI), and Cutera, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUTR). This group of stocks are the members of the medical appliances & equipment industry and their market caps are similar to RTIX’s market cap.

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