Here is What Hedge Funds Think About SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SCLN)

SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCLN) investors should be aware of an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds lately.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of indicators investors can use to monitor publicly traded companies. A duo of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite hedge fund managers can beat the market by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as key, optimistic insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the financial markets. There are lots of incentives for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a glance at the recent action surrounding SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCLN).

What have hedge funds been doing with SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCLN)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 20% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management had the most valuable position in SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCLN), worth close to $2.3 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Israel Englander of Millennium Management, with a $2.2 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors, Wilmot B. Harkey and Daniel Mack’s Nantahala Capital Management and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

Now, some big names have jumped into SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCLN) headfirst. Nantahala Capital Management, managed by Wilmot B. Harkey and Daniel Mack, initiated the most outsized position in SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCLN). Nantahala Capital Management had 0.9 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital also initiated a $0.3 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.

How have insiders been trading SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCLN)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCLN) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCLN). These stocks are Pernix Therapeutics Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PTX), Depomed Inc (NASDAQ:DEPO), Lannett Company, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:LCI), and Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCMP). This group of stocks belong to the drug manufacturers – other industry and their market caps are closest to SCLN’s market cap.