Is Acorda Therapeutics Inc (ACOR) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR) was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. ACOR has experienced a decrease in hedge fund sentiment lately. There were 13 hedge funds in our database with ACOR positions at the end of the previous quarter.

To the average investor, there are tons of gauges shareholders can use to watch their holdings. A couple of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can outpace their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Just as key, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the world of equities. Obviously, there are lots of stimuli for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a peek at the latest action regarding Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR).

What have hedge funds been doing with Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of -23% from the first quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

Of the funds we track, OrbiMed Advisors, managed by Samuel Isaly, holds the biggest position in Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR). OrbiMed Advisors has a $24.7 million position in the stock, comprising 0.6% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $8 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds that are bullish include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Because Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR) has faced declining sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of hedgies who were dropping their full holdings in Q1. Intriguingly, Stephen DuBois’s Camber Capital Management sold off the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds we track, worth close to $19.9 million in stock.. Sean Cullinan’s fund, Point State Capital, also said goodbye to its stock, about $6.2 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 3 funds in Q1.

Insider trading activity in Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR)

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest six-month time frame, Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR). These stocks are Synageva BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:GEVA), Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:LXRX), Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT), ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN), and Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR). This group of stocks are in the biotechnology industry and their market caps are similar to ACOR’s market cap.

With the returns exhibited by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, retail investors must always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR) is an important part of this process.

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