Stocks trending higher during Thursday afternoon trading included Natera Inc (NASDAQ:NTRA), Applied Genetic Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:AGTC), and Columbia Pipeline Group Inc (NYSE:CPGX). Let’s take a look at the activity on these three stocks and what we can expect from them coming out of the long weekend.
On the first day of its offering, the shares of the California-based genetic testing company, Natera, surged by 32%. In order to counter errors and fetal loss arising from traditional prenatal screening tests based on hormones, the company has developed algorithms and statistical testing methods to detect numerous serious conditions with a high degree of accuracy. Out of nine products that the company has, its flagship product is Panorama, which was launched in 2013. The non-invasive test can be administered as early as nine weeks into pregnancy and can detect genetic diseases such as Down Syndrome, Patau Syndrome, and other severe intellectual and physical debilitations.
As far as Applied Genetic Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:AGTC)’s rise of almost 15% is concerned, the $260.88 million healthcare company owes that to the collaborative license agreement that it signed with Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) in relation to developing gene-based therapies for multiple ophthalmic diseases.
Lastly, after gaining almost 11% at one point, shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)‘s new spin-off Columbia Pipeline Group Inc (NYSE:CPGX) finished the day up by about 5.6%. The company operates about 15,000 miles of natural gas pipelines that carry over 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from the Gulf Coast to the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast. In June it was announced that Columbia Pipeline Group would join the S&P 500, replacing Allegheny Technologies. However, the company’s former parent company struggled following the split, with NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) slumping by nearly 5%.
Collectively the smart money gave a bullish signal on Applied Genetic Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:AGTC) and a bearish outlook on NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) from its moves in the first quarter, a reflection of today’s performances by the two companies. At the end of March, 18 funds had a total of $733.37 million in holdings of NiSource compared to 23 funds with $613.32 million at the start of the year. As for Applied Genetic, 11 firms had $65.80 million of investments in the company at the end of March, up from six funds with $47.71 million in shares at the end of the previous quarter.
Among the hedge funds that we track at Insider Monkey, Steve Cohen‘s Point72 Asset Management and Jacob Gottlieb‘s Visium Asset Management are the two largest stockholders of Applied Genetic Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:AGTC). Cohen added some 53,500 shares of the company to his fund’s holding during the first quarter to take its total stake to 1.03 million shares valued at $20.63 million. Gottlieb on the other hand acquired some 307,400 shares of Applied Genetic Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:AGTC) during the same period, taking his fund’s total stake to 1.0 million shares valued at $19.99 million. The two stakes represent 7.33% and 7.10% of the company’s outstanding common stock respectively. Another prominent stockholder of the firm is Israel Englander‘s Millennium Management, owning 504,400 shares valued at $10.08 million.
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