Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB): The Short Data You Need To See

To the untrained eye, there are many facts and figures for Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) investors to track, but it’s useful to be aware of a company’s short sellers. A couple pieces of data we can use are: (a) the chunk of a company’s float that the shorts are presently shorting, plus (b) the difference in short selling activity.

An increased amount of shorting typically indicates what you’d think: investors have grown less bullish on a company. Overselling, though, sometimes has a positive effect on stock price, as short-ers may be forced to buy their positions.

Within our database, it is no secret that we track hedgies’ interest, but it is also crucial to pair this information with aggregate short information. In some high-profile cases, big time players may share that they’re bearish on a particular company, but it isn’t an SEC requirement. Nonetheless, many retail players might want to avoid highly shorted companies with high hedgie support, while others might desire short-squeeze opportunities. For traders looking for a proven piggybacking strategy, discover the details of our premium strategy.

Without further ado, let’s take a glance at the latest data pertaining to Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB).

Tracking the latest FINRA data, which is released two times each month, we can realize that Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) sports a short interest of 0.90% of float. This is a -15.6% change from the prior filing period. With a total float of 237.14M shares, this represents a short ratio of 1.40.

It is also beneficial to keep an eye on hedge fund holdings from their quarterly 13F filings. When analyzing the funds we track, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the biggest position in Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB), worth close to $311.7 million, comprising 0.8% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Andreas Halvorsen of Viking Global, with a $247.9 million position; 1.5% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other peers that are bullish include Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors, Jerome Pfund and Michael Sjostrom’s Sectoral Asset Management and Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors.

Also, insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out activity in other stocks similar to Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB). These stocks are Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN), Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN), Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), and Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG). This group of stocks are in the biotechnology industry and their market caps are closest to BIIB’s market cap.

The aforementioned figures–short sale information, hedge fund data and insider sentiment–are something all readers should track. Although it is difficult to discover a practical strategy from short interest data, the latter two give lots of market beating opportunities if you know where to look.