Should You Buy Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM)?

Is Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM) the right pick for your portfolio? The best stock pickers are in an optimistic mood. The number of long hedge fund bets inched up by 2 in recent months.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of gauges market participants can use to track publicly traded companies. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass the broader indices by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM)Just as key, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. There are many incentives for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action regarding Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM).

How have hedgies been trading Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 21 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 11% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes meaningfully.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Highfields Capital Management, managed by Jonathon Jacobson, holds the most valuable position in Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM). Highfields Capital Management has a $302 million position in the stock, comprising 3.4% of its 13F portfolio. On Highfields Capital Management’s heels is Owl Creek Asset Management, managed by Jeffrey Altman, which held a $108 million position; the fund has 3.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

Now, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. JANA Partners, managed by Barry Rosenstein, created the largest position in Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM). JANA Partners had 43 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also initiated a $5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new IRM positions are Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments, Curtis Macnguyen’s Ivory Capital (Investment Mgmt), and John A. Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies.

How have insiders been trading Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest half-year time period, Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 2 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results exhibited by our studies, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE:IRM) is no exception.

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