Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALXN)?

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) investors are standing pat.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of indicators investors can use to analyze Mr. Market. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can beat the broader indices by a solid amount (see just how much).

Just as crucial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to analyze the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of incentives for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if “monkeys” know where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to examine the recent info for Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN).

Hedge fund activity in Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN)

At the end of the second quarter, a total of 31 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

When using filings from the hedgies we track, Viking Global, managed by Andreas Halvorsen, holds the biggest position in Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN). Viking Global has a $511.5 million position in the stock, comprising 2.8% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which held a $88.8 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Arthur B Cohen and Joseph Healey’s Healthcor Management LP and Panayotis Sparaggis’s Alkeon Capital Management.

As Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) has experienced a fall in interest from the top-tier hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of money managers that elected to cut their full holdings last quarter. Intriguingly, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies dumped the biggest stake of the 450+ funds we watch, valued at close to $39.9 million in stock, and Eric Chen of Antipodean Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $28.7 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

What have insiders been doing with Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN)?

Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll go over the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN). These stocks are Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN), Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB), BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX), and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN). This group of stocks are in the biotechnology industry and their market caps are closest to ALXN’s market cap.

Using the returns explained by our studies, regular investors should always track hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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