Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALXA): Watch This Important Indicator

Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXA) was in 2 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. ALXA investors should be aware of a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently. There were 2 hedge funds in our database with ALXA holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In the financial world, there are plenty of methods market participants can use to watch stocks. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can beat the broader indices by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are many reasons for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action surrounding Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXA).

Hedge fund activity in Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXA)

At year’s end, a total of 2 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. At the top of the heap, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies dumped the largest stake of all the hedgies we monitor, totaling close to $0.7 million in stock.

How have insiders been trading Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXA)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXA) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXA). These stocks are Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPIX), NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:NBY), Apricus Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:APRI), Prana Biotechnology Limited (ADR) (NASDAQ:PRAN), and Telik, Inc. (NASDAQ:TELK). This group of stocks are in the drug manufacturers – other industry and their market caps match ALXA’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXA) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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