Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About Cytokinetics, Inc. (CYTK) Anymore

Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK) has seen a decrease in hedge fund interest in recent months.

In today’s marketplace, there are a multitude of indicators market participants can use to analyze their holdings. A pair of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can beat the broader indices by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as important, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to break down the marketplace. There are lots of motivations for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the key action encompassing Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK).

How have hedgies been trading Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK)?

At year’s end, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -13% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Deerfield Management, managed by James E. Flynn, holds the biggest position in Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK). Deerfield Management has a $8 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. On Deerfield Management’s heels is Lansdowne Partners, managed by Paul Ruddockáand Steve Heinz, which held a $6.9 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include William Leland Edwards’s Palo Alto Investors, Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

Because Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK) has witnessed a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there were a few fund managers who were dropping their positions entirely last quarter. Intriguingly, Jay Venkatesen’s Ayer Capital Management sold off the largest stake of all the hedgies we monitor, comprising an estimated $0.4 million in stock. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by 1 funds last quarter.

What have insiders been doing with Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK). These stocks are ShangPharma Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SHP), ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQL), OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OGXI), Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENZN), and Durata Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:DRTX). This group of stocks belong to the biotechnology industry and their market caps match CYTK’s market cap.

With the results exhibited by the aforementioned strategies, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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