Israel Englander of Millennium Management has increased his stake in NuVasive, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUVA) according to a recent 13G form filed with the SEC. The billionaire investor has added to his holding in the $2.33 billion medical device company, now owning 2.55 million shares, up from 1.45 million shares held on March 31. The stake now amasses 5.3% of NuVasive, Inc’s outstanding shares.
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In a recent meeting with Piper Jaffray’s Matt O’Brien, NuVasive, Inc. CFO Quentin Blackford said there was limited impact on the business due to the departures of COO Keith Valentine and CEO Alex Lukianov. He maintained that the revenue drivers are in place and the company expects to achieve or beat its sales target of $810M. Piper Jaffray is Overweight on the stock with a price target of $56, and O’Brien also believes the company or meet or beat its sales target.
Out of 700+ active hedge funds that are tracked by Insider Monkey, the interest in NuVasive, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUVA) was increased slightly during the first quarter, with 29 funds having invested $403.17 million in the company at the end of March compared to 26 funds with $332.30 million invested at the end of 2014. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management and Samuel Isaly’s Orbimed Advisors are two of the biggest stockholders of NuVasive in our database, with holdings of 1.55 million and 1.07 million shares respectively.
Let’s take a quick look at the top picks of Englander now, who was most bullish on the finance, healthcare, and energy sectors heading into the second quarter. The top three positions of the fund as of the end of the first quarter were Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA), NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE), and American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NYSE:AEP).
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A judge in Pennsylvania asked Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA) to drop law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP as its legal adviser concerning the ongoing Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ:MYL) acquisition talks. According to the judge, the law firm’s loyalty could be biased, having represented Mylan on previous drug approvals. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd’s $40 billion offer was rejected outright by Mylan NV paving the way for a three-way takeover battle between the two firms as well as Perrigo Company PLC Ordinary Shares (NYSE:PRGO), whom Mylan is attempting to acquire. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd has hired Sullivan & Cromwell LLP to advise it on how to proceed with the matter.
NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE) is one of the favorites to acquire the 80% stake in financial stricken Energy Future Holding’s Oncor Electric Delivery. It is the largest operator of power lines in Texas and worth more than $10 billion as per its CEO in April. The power lines operator found itself in a financial mess after the company piled up debt of $48 billion in a record leveraged buyout. Though creditors want to convert Oncor Electric Delivery into a REIT, it is possible that NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE) along with other creditors will make a bid which values Oncor at $17.5 billion. NextEra Energy Inc wants to expand beyond Florida; the company tabled a $4.26 billion bid for Hawaiian Electric Industries. Texas could be the next stop for the company even as Energy Future continues to weigh the options for its Oncor division.
American Electric Power Company Inc (NYSE:AEP) along with seven other electric utilities and energy companies are joining hands to address major events that affect the electric transmission grid. The companies are coming together to lower the lead time required to design, build and deliver critical grid equipment such as transformers and circuit breakers in times of emergency. A limited liability company or a ‘Grid Assurance’ will be formed as part of a signed memorandum. The company will seek to provide subscribers with cost-effective solutions for enhancing grid resilience while protecting subscribers from prolonged transmission outages. The limited liability company plans to charge cost-based subscription fees while staying clear of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulation. American Electric Power Company Inc saw a series of open market insider transactions during the month of May. Executive VP, CFO Brian Tierney sold 3,642 shares worth $202,161. Executive VP – COO Robert Powers also sold 3,642 shares for $207,581. The third insider to unload shares was Executive Vice President Lisa Barton who made $45,462 by selling off 791 shares, while the last transaction was from Executive Vice President Mark McCullough who unloaded 816 shares in an open market transaction for $46,876.
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