Is Affymetrix, Inc. (AFFX) A Good Stock To Buy?

The elite funds run by legendary investors such as Dan Loeb and David Tepper make hundreds of millions of dollars for themselves and their investors by spending enormous resources doing research on small cap stocks that big investment banks don’t follow. Because of their pay structures, they have strong incentive to do the research necessary to beat the market. That’s why we pay close attention to what they think in small cap stocks. In this article, we take a closer look at Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) from the perspective of those elite funds.

Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) was in 24 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) has experienced an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late. There were 22 hedge funds in our database with Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX)positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article, we will also compare Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) to other stocks, including Yadkin Financial Corp (NYSE:YDKN), Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SUPN), and General Communication, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNCMA) to get a better sense of its popularity.

At the moment, there are many gauges market participants put to use to grade stocks. A duo of the most innovative gauges are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best money managers can outclass the market by a very impressive amount (see the details here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s go over the latest action encompassing Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX).

What have hedge funds been doing with Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX)?

At the end of Q3, a total of 24 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, an increase of 9% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors has the number one position in Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX), worth close to $64.1 million, amounting to 0.6% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Levin Capital Strategies, led by John A. Levin, holding a $26.7 million position; the fund has 0.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors that hold long positions contain Renaissance Technologies, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

Now, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, established the most outsized position in Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX). Fisher Asset Management had $3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management also initiated a $2.8 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new AFFX investors: Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, Phil Frohlich’s Prescott Group Capital Management, and Michael Platt and William Reeves’s BlueCrest Capital Mgmt..

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) but similarly valued. These stocks are Yadkin Financial Corp (NYSE:YDKN), Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SUPN), General Communication, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNCMA), and VASCO Data Security International, Inc. (NASDAQ:VDSI). This group of stocks’ market caps is similar to Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $72 million. That figure was $140 million in Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX)’s case. Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SUPN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Yadkin Financial Corp (NYSE:YDKN) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) 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.