Hedge Funds Are Buying Endocyte, Inc. (ECYT)

Is Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECYT) a marvelous investment today? The best stock pickers are in a bullish mood. The number of long hedge fund positions inched up by 4 lately.

At the moment, there are plenty of metrics shareholders can use to watch Mr. Market. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can beat the S&P 500 by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Just as integral, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are many reasons for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action regarding Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECYT).

How are hedge funds trading Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECYT)?

Heading into Q2, a total of 11 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 57% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.

According to our comprehensive database, Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors had the most valuable position in Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECYT), worth close to $11.6 million, comprising 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. On OrbiMed Advisors’s heels is Farallon Capital, managed by Andrew Spokes, which held a $2.9 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Thomas Bailard’s Bailard Inc and James Dondero’s Highland Capital Management.

As industrywide interest jumped, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Farallon Capital, managed by Andrew Spokes, created the biggest position in Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECYT). Farallon Capital had 2.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital also initiated a $1.8 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new ECYT positions are Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, Mike Vranos’s Ellington, and Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital.

What have insiders been doing with Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECYT)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time frame, Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECYT) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECYT). These stocks are Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ICPT), Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL), Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KERX), Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTX), and Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KYTH). This group of stocks are in the drug manufacturers – major industry and their market caps are closest to ECYT’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by our time-tested strategies, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECYT) is no exception.

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