Markets opened higher today amid rising oil prices and a strong report from the U.S. Commerce Department, which showed a 16.6% increase in new home sales last month, an unprecedented trend since January 2008. One of the stocks trending today is Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN). Earlier today, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Sanofi SA (NYSE:SNY) will soon name candidates that it plans to put on Medivation’s board in order to replace the existing board. The move comes after Medivation rejected Sanofi’s $9.3 billion takeover bid. If Sanofi succeeds in taking over Medivation, it will most likely please hedge funds, many of which have been betting on an M&A deal.
Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN) was in 49 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of March. MDVN investors should pay attention to an increase in hedge fund interest recently. There were 34 hedge funds in our database with MDVN positions at the end of the previous 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 Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO), NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI), and Vipshop Holdings Ltd – ADR (NYSE:VIPS) to gather more data points.
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In the 21st century investor’s toolkit there are dozens of tools stock traders can use to value their holdings. Two of the most innovative tools are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see the details here).
Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Fred Knoll’s Knoll Capital Management has the biggest position in Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN), worth close to $202.2 million, accounting for 82.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Scopia Capital, led by Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich, holding a $129 million position; 2.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other peers that hold long positions contain Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management, Zach Schreiber’s Point State Capital and Arthur B Cohen and Joseph Healey’s Healthcor Management LP.
On the next page, we are going to take a closer look at some funds that jumped into Medivation headfirst during the January-March period.
Amoong the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Scopia Capital, managed by Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich, created the largest position in Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN). Zach Schreiber’s Point State Capital also made a $95.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Mitchell Blutt’s Consonance Capital Management, Stephen DuBois’s Camber Capital Management, and Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global.
Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN). These stocks are Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO), NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI), Vipshop Holdings Ltd – ADR (NYSE:VIPS), and Centene Corp (NYSE:CNC). This group of stocks’ market caps resemble MDVN’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| MRO | 33 | 641944 | 6 |
| NI | 26 | 352539 | 4 |
| VIPS | 42 | 879005 | 8 |
| CNC | 47 | 721953 | 20 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 37 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $649 million. That figure was $1.56 billion in MDVN’s case. Centene Corp (NYSE:CNC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) is the least popular one with only 26 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.
Disclosure: None
