The Insider Monkey team has completed processing the quarterly 13F filings for the December quarter submitted by the hedge funds and other money managers included in our extensive database. Most hedge fund investors endured a torrid quarter, 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 Heska Corp (NASDAQ:HSKA).
Heska Corp (NASDAQ:HSKA) has seen an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently. HSKA was in 12 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2018. There were 10 hedge funds in our database with HSKA holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that HSKA isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
According to most market participants, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, outdated financial vehicles of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, Our researchers choose to focus on the bigwigs of this group, about 750 funds. These hedge fund managers command bulk of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by shadowing their highest performing stock picks, Insider Monkey has found a number of investment strategies that have historically outstripped the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey’s flagship hedge fund strategy defeated the S&P 500 index by nearly 5 percentage points annually since its inception in May 2014 through early November 2018. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 27.5% since February 2017 (through March 12th) even though the market was up nearly 25% during the same period. We just shared a list of 6 short targets in our latest quarterly update and they are already down an average of 6% in less than a month.
We’re going to take a look at the fresh hedge fund action surrounding Heska Corp (NASDAQ:HSKA).
How are hedge funds trading Heska Corp (NASDAQ:HSKA)?
Heading into the first quarter of 2019, a total of 12 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 20% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards HSKA over the last 14 quarters. So, let’s review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
More specifically, Redmile Group was the largest shareholder of Heska Corp (NASDAQ:HSKA), with a stake worth $17 million reported as of the end of December. Trailing Redmile Group was Park West Asset Management, which amassed a stake valued at $9.1 million. GAMCO Investors, Marshall Wace LLP, and AlphaOne Capital Partners were also very fond of the stock, giving the stock large weights in their portfolios.
Consequently, key money managers have jumped into Heska Corp (NASDAQ:HSKA) headfirst. Marshall Wace LLP, managed by Paul Marshall and Ian Wace, initiated the most valuable position in Heska Corp (NASDAQ:HSKA). Marshall Wace LLP had $2.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Hondros’s AlphaOne Capital Partners also made a $2.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Heska Corp (NASDAQ:HSKA). These stocks are ORBCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:ORBC), Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC), Yirendai Ltd. (NYSE:YRD), and nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to HSKA’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| ORBC | 12 | 99614 | -3 |
| GSBC | 8 | 19470 | -1 |
| YRD | 3 | 5857 | -2 |
| LASR | 4 | 27303 | -1 |
| Average | 6.75 | 38061 | -1.75 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 6.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $38 million. That figure was $38 million in HSKA’s case. ORBCOMM Inc (NASDAQ:ORBC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Yirendai Ltd. (NYSE:YRD) is the least popular one with only 3 bullish hedge fund positions. Heska Corp (NASDAQ:HSKA) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. 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 15 most popular stocks) among hedge funds returned 24.2% through April 22nd and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by more than 7 percentage points. Unfortunately HSKA wasn’t nearly as popular as these 15 stock and hedge funds that were betting on HSKA were disappointed as the stock returned -13.3% and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 15 most popular stocks) among hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market this year.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
