Is Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) a buy right now? The smart money is in a pessimistic mood. The number of long hedge fund positions shrunk by 4 recently.
In the financial world, there are a multitude of methods market participants can use to monitor publicly traded companies. A pair of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can outpace the market by a solid amount (see just how much).
Equally as important, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. There are lots of incentives for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the latest action surrounding Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX).
What have hedge funds been doing with Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -25% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly.
Of the funds we track, Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors had the most valuable position in Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX), worth close to $33.2 million, comprising 1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Joseph Edelman of Perceptive Advisors, with a $30.6 million position; the fund has 5.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors and SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors.
Due to the fact that Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) has faced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few funds that slashed their full holdings at the end of the year. At the top of the heap, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management said goodbye to the largest investment of all the hedgies we monitor, totaling close to $2 million in stock., and J. Alan Reid, Jr. of Forward Management was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $0.4 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 4 funds at the end of the year.
How have insiders been trading Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX)?
Insider buying is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time frame, Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) has experienced 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 Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX). These stocks are Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KERX), Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL), Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ICPT), Impax Laboratories Inc (NASDAQ:IPXL), and Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PCRX). This group of stocks belong to the drug manufacturers – major industry and their market caps resemble NBIX’s market cap.
