Steve Cohen‘s Point72 Asset Management has upped its stake in two companies and added two new holdings to its equity portfolio, according to four separate Schedule 13G forms filed with the SEC recently. Firstly, an additional 642,300 shares of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) were acquired, taking the total ownership to the company to over 2.19 million shares. Cohen’s Smith & Wesson Holding Corp (NASDAQ:SWHC) holding was increased to just under 2.70 million shares through the addition of about 1.76 million shares. Moreover, a new stake in Trillium Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIL) was initiated, consisting of 378,050 shares, representing 5.6% of the company’s outstanding stock. Finally, another new stake was initiated in CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) of over 1.82 million shares, constituting about 5% of the company’s outstanding shares. The stakes were acquired through various affiliated funds of Point72.
Point72 Asset Management, formerly known as SAC Capital Advisors, was founded in 1992 with $25 million in assets. The hedge fund’s name was changed in 2014 as Cohen wanted to distance his firm from the negative publicity that it was embroiled in pertaining to one of the biggest insider-trading scandals in the history of the hedge fund industry, which ended with SAC paying a total of $1.8 billion in penalties. The new fund has about $10 billion in assets and is a family office, managing the money of only Cohen, his family members, and certain employees. The market value of Point72’s equity portfolio stood at $14.25 billion at the end of the first quarter. Holdings in the consumer discretionary and energy sectors contributed 21% and 17% respectively to the above value.
Insider Monkey tracks hedge funds’ moves in order to identify actionable patterns and profit from them. Our research has shown that hedge funds’ large-cap stock picks historically delivered a monthly alpha of six basis points, though these stocks underperformed the S&P 500 Total Return Index by an average of seven basis points per month between 1999 and 2012. These stocks were able to generate alpha because of their lower risk profile. On the other hand, the 15 most popular small-cap stocks among hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by an average of 95 basis points per month. These stocks were slightly riskier, so their monthly alpha was 80 basis points (read the details here). We believe investors will be better off by focusing on small-cap stocks rather than large-cap stocks.
Cohen’s new holding in Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) represents 5.3% of the company’s outstanding stock. Point72 also holds call options on 275,200 of Sarepta’s shares. Down by about 8.29% year-to-date, the $526.23 million biopharmaceutical company is focused on developing RNA-based therapeutics. Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT)’s leading treatment is eteplirsen, a program for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. After the resignation of former CEO and President Christopher Garabedian, the company recently appointed its Chief Medical Officer Edward Kaye as its interim CEO. According to our database, Joseph Edelman is the largest stockholder of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT), as he held some 2.81 million shares at the end of the first quarter.
