The Insider Monkey team has completed processing the quarterly 13F filings for the June quarter submitted by the hedge funds and other money managers included in our extensive database. Most hedge fund investors experienced strong gains on the back of a strong market performance, which certainly propelled them to adjust their equity holdings so as to maintain the desired risk profile. As a result, the relevancy of these public filings and their content is indisputable, as they may reveal numerous high-potential stocks. The following article will discuss the smart money sentiment towards Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS).
Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS) has seen an increase in enthusiasm from smart money of late. Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS) was in 21 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of June. The all time high for this statistic was previously 16. This means the bullish number of hedge fund positions in this stock currently sits at its all time high. Our calculations also showed that AMRS isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q2 rankings).
So, why do we pay attention to hedge fund sentiment before making any investment decisions? Our research has shown that hedge funds’ small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 79 percentage points since March 2017 (see the details here). We have been able to outperform the passive index funds by tracking the moves of corporate insiders and hedge funds, and we believe small investors can benefit a lot from reading hedge fund investor letters and 13F filings.
John Overdeck of Two Sigma Advisors
At Insider Monkey, we scour multiple sources to uncover the next great investment idea. For example, lithium mining is one of the fastest growing industries right now, so we are checking out stock pitches like this emerging lithium stock. We go through lists like the 10 best EV stocks to pick the next Tesla that will deliver a 10x return. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our homepage. Now let’s take a glance at the recent hedge fund action regarding Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS).
Do Hedge Funds Think AMRS Is A Good Stock To Buy Now?
At Q2’s end, a total of 21 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 50% from one quarter earlier. By comparison, 16 hedge funds held shares or bullish call options in AMRS a year ago. So, let’s check out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Among these funds, Farallon Capital held the most valuable stake in Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS), which was worth $214.6 million at the end of the second quarter. On the second spot was Vivo Capital which amassed $190.5 million worth of shares. Casdin Capital, Renaissance Technologies, and Citadel Investment Group were also very fond of the stock, becoming one of the largest hedge fund holders of the company. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Vivo Capital allocated the biggest weight to Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS), around 8.25% of its 13F portfolio. One Fin Capital Management is also relatively very bullish on the stock, designating 6.26 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to AMRS.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Casdin Capital, managed by Eli Casdin, initiated the largest position in Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS). Casdin Capital had $49.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors also made a $2.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new AMRS investors: Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, and Ryan Tolkin (CIO)’s Schonfeld Strategic Advisors.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS). We will take a look at Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE), Canada Goose Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GOOS), TeleTech Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTEC), Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE:WBS), FireEye Inc (NASDAQ:FEYE), The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ:GT), and Simpson Manufacturing Co, Inc. (NYSE:SSD). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to AMRS’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| HLNE | 15 | 78844 | -1 |
| GOOS | 10 | 216554 | -9 |
| TTEC | 12 | 39444 | 2 |
| WBS | 23 | 419021 | -4 |
| FEYE | 29 | 219042 | 4 |
| GT | 33 | 497573 | 10 |
| SSD | 19 | 198728 | -6 |
| Average | 20.1 | 238458 | -0.6 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 20.1 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $238 million. That figure was $567 million in AMRS’s case. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ:GT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Canada Goose Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GOOS) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Amyris Inc (NASDAQ:AMRS) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for AMRS is 63.9. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. This is a slightly positive signal but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed that top 5 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 95.8% in 2019 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 40 percentage points. These stocks gained 24% in 2021 through October 22nd and beat the market again by 1.6 percentage points. Unfortunately AMRS wasn’t nearly as popular as these 5 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on AMRS were disappointed as the stock returned -14.3% since the end of June (through 10/22) and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 5 most popular stocks among hedge funds as many of these stocks already outperformed the market since 2019.
Follow Amyris Inc. (NASDAQ:AMRS)
Follow Amyris Inc. (NASDAQ:AMRS)
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Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
