Here Is What Hedge Funds Think About Repligen Corporation (RGEN)

The latest 13F reporting period has come and gone, and Insider Monkey is again at the forefront when it comes to making use of this gold mine of data. We have processed the filings of more than 700 world-class investment firms that we track and now have access to the collective wisdom contained in these filings, which are based on their September 30 holdings, data that is available nowhere else. Should you consider Repligen Corporation (NASDAQ:RGEN) for your portfolio? We’ll look to this invaluable collective wisdom for the answer.

Among the funds we track, Repligen Corporation (NASDAQ:RGEN) was in 14 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015, unchanged on the quarter. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity, but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT), Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN), and PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT) to gather more data points.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a lot of metrics shareholders employ to appraise stocks. Two of the most underrated metrics are hedge fund and insider trading signals. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a solid amount (see the details here).

Now, we’re going to review the latest action regarding Repligen Corporation (NASDAQ:RGEN).

What does the smart money think about Repligen Corporation (NASDAQ:RGEN)?

At the end of the third quarter, a total of 14 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, unchanged in comparison to the second quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Renaissance Technologies has the largest position in Repligen Corporation (NASDAQ:RGEN), worth close to $24.4 million, accounting for 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Clifford Fox of Columbus Circle Investors, with a $11.8 million position; 0.1% of Columbus’ 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors that are bullish encompass Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Robert B. Gillam’s McKinley Capital Management and Richard Driehaus’ Driehaus Capital.

We view hedge fund activity in the stock unfavorable, but in this case there was only a single hedge fund selling its entire position: Craig Drill Capital. One hedge fund selling its entire position doesn’t always imply a bearish intent. Theoretically a hedge fund may decide to sell a promising position in order to invest the proceeds in a more promising idea. However, we don’t think this is the case here because only one of the 700+ hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey identified as a viable investment and initiated a position in the stock (that fund was “Gotham Asset Management).

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Repligen Corporation (NASDAQ:RGEN). We will take a look at Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT), Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN), PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT), and Bristow Group Inc (NYSE:BRS). This group of stocks’ market valuations resembles Repligen Corporation (NASDAQ:RGEN)’s market valuation.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 20 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $140 million. Repligen Corporation (NASDAQ:RGEN) saw smart money investors amass $65 million worth of stock at the end of the third quarter. PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT) is the most popular stock in this table with 28 long positions, while Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) is the least popular one. Repligen Corporation (NASDAQ: RGEN) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. This does not imply that the stock is not a good long investment, but we prefer to spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. For example, PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.