Is Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (BDGE) A Good Stock To Buy?

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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 investors think of Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDGE).

Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDGE) has seen an increase in enthusiasm from smart money recently. BDGE was in 8 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with BDGE holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare BDGE to other stocks, including Triple-S Management Corp.(NYSE:GTS), Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA), and Incontact Inc (NASDAQ:SAAS) to get a better sense of its popularity.

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To most shareholders, hedge funds are seen as unimportant, outdated financial tools of years past. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, We look at the aristocrats of this group, approximately 700 funds. These hedge fund managers handle the majority of the smart money’s total asset base, and by keeping track of their first-class investments, Insider Monkey has identified various investment strategies that have historically beaten the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points a year for a decade in their back tests.

Now, we’re going to analyze the recent action regarding Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDGE).

How have hedgies been trading Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDGE)?

Heading into Q4, a total of 8 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 14% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Matthew Lindenbaum’s Basswood Capital has the number one position in Bridge Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:BDGE), worth close to $47.4 million, comprising 2.3% of its total 13F portfolio. On Basswood Capital’s heels is Ulysses Management, led by Joshua Nash, holding a $13.9 million position; the fund has 1.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining members of the smart money with similar optimism comprise Paul Magidson, Jonathan Cohen and Ostrom Enders’ Castine Capital Management, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies and William Black’s Consector Capital.

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