Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

With the third-quarter round of 13F filings behind us it is time to take a look at the stocks in which some of the best money managers in the world preferred to invest or sell heading into the fourth quarter. One of these stocks was Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:CORT).

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:CORT) represented one of the most successful biotech bets in the first half of 2015, as the stock gained more than 100% during this period. This led to an increase in interest from smart money investors and during the third quarter, the number of funds bullish on CORT (among the funds we track) increased by five. However, the level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity, but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. (NASDAQ:MFLX), Catchmark Timber Trust Inc (NYSE:CTT), and Apollo Residential Mortgage Inc (NYSE:AMTG) to gather more data points.

According to most market participants, hedge funds are viewed as underperforming, old investment tools of years past. While there are over an 8000 funds in operation at present, We hone in on the elite of this group, about 700 funds. These money managers command the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by keeping track of their top picks, Insider Monkey has determined a few investment strategies that have historically outpaced the market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points annually for a decade in their back tests.

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a gander at the key action regarding Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:CORT).

How have hedgies been trading Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:CORT)?

At the Q3’s end, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock. Among these funds, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies has the most valuable position in Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:CORT), worth close to $1.7 million, comprising less than 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Millennium Management, led by Israel Englander, holding a $1.2 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions include John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Consequently, some big names have been driving this bullishness. D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, assembled the largest position in Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:CORT). D E Shaw had $0.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management also initiated a $0.1 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new CORT positions are Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management, Paul Tudor Jones’ Tudor Investment Corp, and Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:CORT). These stocks are Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. (NASDAQ:MFLX), Catchmark Timber Trust Inc (NYSE:CTT), Apollo Residential Mortgage Inc (NYSE:AMTG), and Natural Health Trends Corp. (NASDAQ:NHTC). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to CORT’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 13 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $34 million, significantly higher than the $7 million in CORT’s case. Multi-Fineline Electronix, Inc. (NASDAQ:MFLX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Catchmark Timber Trust Inc (NYSE:CTT) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:CORT) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal, but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard MFLX might be a better candidate to consider a long position.