A Closer Look at Five Stocks on the Move on Monday

U.S. stocks are mixed on Monday trading, as a spike in tech stocks countered the tumble in energy, driven by declining oil prices.

Among the stocks registering significant moves are Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL), Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IONS), TOP SHIPS Inc (NASDAQ:TOPS), MeetMe Inc (NASDAQ:MEET), and Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KERX). So, let’s take a look into the events behind said realignments, and into what the funds in our database think about the companies involved.

At Insider Monkey, we track around 765 hedge funds and institutional investors. Through extensive backtests, we have determined that imitating some of the stocks that these investors are collectively bullish on can help retail investors generate double digits of alpha per year. The key is to focus on the small-cap picks of these funds, which are usually less followed by the broader market and allow for larger price inefficiencies (see more details).

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Whiting Down With Oil

Let’s start with Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL), which is down 11.2%, driven by a 3.68% drop in WTI prices and a 3.33% tumble in Brent. The decline in oil prices was, in turn, caused by news about an increase in OPEC production, and a surge in the U.S. oil rig count. Over the first quarter of the year, hedge funds interest in Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) picked up, with the number of long positions in the stock rising to 43 at the end of March, up from 40 at the beginning of 2016. Among the largest shareholders of record was Debra Fine’s Fine Capital Partners, which last disclosed ownership of 9.68 million shares.

Ionis Skyrockets On Nusinerse Data

Next up is Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IONS), which has gained more than 31% on Monday trading, following the announcement that nusinerse had met the primary endpoint for the interim analysis of ENDEAR, the Phase 3 trial assessing the drug in infantile-onset (consistent with Type 1) SMA. According to the data, infants that received nusinersen experienced a statistically significant amelioration in certain motor functions. Shares of Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB), also involved in the development of the drug, are trading up by about 5%. A total of 15 funds among those we track were long Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IONS) at the end of March.