Here is What Hedge Funds Think About The Cooper Companies, Inc. (COO)

The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO) has experienced a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months.

In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are perceived as underperforming, old financial tools of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds in operation at present, we choose to focus on the aristocrats of this club, about 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group controls the majority of the smart money’s total asset base, and by watching their best stock picks, we have revealed a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the broader indices. 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 beaten the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see the details here).

Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to parse down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are many incentives for a corporate insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if investors understand what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a look at the latest action surrounding The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO).

What does the smart money think about The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -22% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors had the most valuable position in The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO), worth close to $106.2 million, comprising 0.8% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $37.7 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that hold long positions include Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.

Due to the fact that The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO) has experienced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of funds who were dropping their entire stakes at the end of the first quarter. At the top of the heap, SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors sold off the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds we watch, valued at close to $4.6 million in stock., and Neil Chriss of Hutchin Hill Capital was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $4.5 million worth. These transactions are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 5 funds at the end of the first quarter.

How have insiders been trading The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 11 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 The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO). These stocks are C.R. Bard, Inc. (NYSE:BCR), Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX), CareFusion Corporation (NYSE:CFN), DENTSPLY International Inc. (NASDAQ:XRAY), and Mindray Medical International Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:MR). This group of stocks belong to the medical instruments & supplies industry and their market caps are closest to COO’s market cap.