Hedge Funds Are Buying Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (HALO)

How do we determine whether Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) makes for a good investment at the moment? We analyze the sentiment of a select group of the very best investors in the world, who spend immense amounts of time and resources studying companies. They may not always be right (no one is), but data shows that their consensus long positions have historically outperformed the market when we adjust for known risk factors.

Is Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) a safe investment today? Hedge funds are taking an optimistic view. The number of long hedge fund bets went up by 4 recently. Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) was in 24 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 20 hedge funds in our database with Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article, we will also compare Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) to other stocks, including Sanmina Corp (NASDAQ:SANM), USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (NYSE:USNA), and Shake Shack Inc (NYSE:SHAK) to get a better sense of its popularity.

To the average investor, there are a lot of metrics shareholders can use to value stocks. A duo of the less known metrics are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a very impressive margin (see the details here).

With all of this in mind, we’re going to check out the latest action regarding Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO).

How have hedgies been trading Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO)?

At the end of September, a total of 24 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, an increase of 20% from the second quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, David Cohen and Harold Levy’s Iridian Asset Management has the number one position in Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO), worth close to $109.9 million, amounting to 0.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Millennium Management, led by Israel Englander, holding a $41.2 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions comprise Jerome Pfund and Michael Sjostrom’s Sectoral Asset Management, Julian Baker and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors, and Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management.

Consequently, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Pyrrho Capital Management, managed by Vishal Bhutani and Joshua Bederman, assembled the largest position in Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO). Pyrrho Capital Management had $1.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management also initiated a $0.7 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new HALO investors: Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management, Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp, and Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) but similarly valued. These stocks are Sanmina Corp (NASDAQ:SANM), USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (NYSE:USNA), Shake Shack Inc (NYSE:SHAK), and HB Fuller Co (NYSE:FUL). This group of stocks’ market caps matches Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 15 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $97 million. That figure was $307 million in Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO)’s case. Sanmina Corp (NASDAQ:SANM) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, HB Fuller Co (NYSE:FUL) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) 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.