Should you be crazy about BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN)?
In the financial world, there are dozens of gauges shareholders can use to analyze stocks. Two of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top investment managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a significant amount (see just how much).
Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to look at the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of reasons for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).
Now that that’s out of the way, it’s important to study the latest info surrounding BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN).
How have hedgies been trading BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN)?
Heading into Q3, a total of 27 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 23% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.
According to our 13F database, Sectoral Asset Management, managed by Jerome Pfund and Michael Sjostrom, holds the largest position in BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN). Sectoral Asset Management has a $110 million position in the stock, comprising 3.3% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Blue Ridge Capital, managed by John Griffin, which held a $97.5 million position; 1.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other peers that are bullish include Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
Now, certain money managers were breaking ground themselves. Sectoral Asset Management, managed by JΘr⌠me Pfund and Michael Sj÷str÷m, created the most outsized position in BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN). Sectoral Asset Management had 110 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Griffin’s Blue Ridge Capital also made a $97.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new BMRN positions are Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors, Julian Baker and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
How have insiders been trading BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN)?
Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN). These stocks are Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN), Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX), Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ONXX), and Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN). This group of stocks are in the biotechnology industry and their market caps match BMRN’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) | 33 | 0 | 0 |
| Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ONXX) | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) | 29 | 0 | 0 |
Using the results explained by the previously mentioned analyses, regular investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN) is an important part of this process.
