Hedge Funds Are Buying Dynavax Technologies Corporation (DVAX)

Is Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX) a good investment right now? We check hedge fund and billionaire investor sentiment before delving into hours of research. Hedge funds spend millions of dollars on Ivy League graduates, expert networks, and get tips from industry insiders. They fail miserably sometimes but historically their consensus stock picks outperformed the market after adjusting for known risk factors.

Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX) was in 32 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. DVAX investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately. There were 27 hedge funds in our database with DVAX holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare DVAX to other stocks including Infoblox Inc (NYSE:BLOX), Evolent Health Inc (NYSE:EVH), and Genesis Healthcare Inc (NYSE:GEN) to get a better sense of its popularity.

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a peek at the latest action surrounding Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX).

What does the smart money think about Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX)?

At Q3’s end, a total of 32 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 19% from the second quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors has the biggest position in Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX), worth close to $60.7 million, accounting for 0.6% of its total 13F portfolio. On OrbiMed Advisors’s heels is Amici Capital, managed by Paul Orlin and Alex Porter, which holds a $48.6 million position; 2.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors that are bullish contain Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital and Kevin Kotler’s Broadfin Capital.

As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. OrbiMed Advisors, managed by Samuel Isaly, created the most outsized position in Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX). OrbiMed Advisors had $60.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jeremy Green’s Redmile Group also made a $17.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new DVAX positions are Ken Greenberg and David Kim’s Ghost Tree Capital, Kris Jenner, Gordon Bussard, Graham McPhail’s Rock Springs Capital Management, and Julian Baker and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Infoblox Inc (NYSE:BLOX), Evolent Health Inc (NYSE:EVH), Genesis Healthcare Inc (NYSE:GEN), and Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHB). This group of stocks’ market values match DVAX’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 12.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $75 million. That figure was $348 million in DVAX’s case. Infoblox Inc (NYSE:BLOX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHB) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.