Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (BRKS): Hedge Funds Are Bullish and Insiders Are Undecided, What Should You Do?

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Now that that’s out of the way, let’s study the recent info about Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS).

Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS)

What have hedge funds been doing with Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS)?

Heading into Q3, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 22% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS), worth close to $36.9 million, comprising 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Bernard Horn of Polaris Capital Management, with a $30 million position; the fund has 1.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that are bullish include Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

As industrywide interest increased, particular hedge funds have jumped into Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS) headfirst. Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, initiated the most outsized position in Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS). Royce & Associates had 36.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Bernard Horn’s Polaris Capital Management also initiated a $30 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new BRKS positions are Mark Kingdon’s Kingdon Capital, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.

What have insiders been doing with Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS)?

Insider buying is best served when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, 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 Brooks Automation, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:BRKS). These stocks are ChipMOS Technologies (Bermuda) Ltd (NASDAQ:IMOS), Intermolecular Inc (NASDAQ:IMI), Tessera Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSRA), Kulicke and Soffa Industries Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC), and ATMI Inc (NASDAQ:ATMI). This group of stocks belong to the semiconductor equipment & materials industry and their market caps match BRKS’s market cap.

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