Insider Monkey has processed numerous 13F filings of hedge funds and famous investors to create an extensive database of hedge fund holdings. The 13F filings show the hedge funds and investors’ positions as of the end of the third quarter. You can find write-ups about an individual hedge fund’s trades on numerous financial news websites. However, in this article we will take a look at their collective moves and analyze what the smart money thinks of Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) based on that data.
Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) was in 22 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) has experienced a decrease in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 25 hedge funds in our database with Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) 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 Shaw Communications Inc (USA) (NYSE:SJR), Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI), and Amdocs Limited (NASDAQ:DOX) to gather more data points.
Follow Alkermes Plc. (NASDAQ:ALKS)
Follow Alkermes Plc. (NASDAQ:ALKS)
To most shareholders, hedge funds are viewed as underperforming, old investment tools of yesteryear. While there are greater than 8000 funds trading today, our researchers choose to focus on the crème de la crème of this group, approximately 700 funds. These investment experts administer most of the smart money’s total capital, and by paying attention to their inimitable picks, Insider Monkey has come up with a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the broader indices. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points annually for a decade in their back tests.
With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the new action surrounding Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS).
How are hedge funds trading Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 22 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -12% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Woodford Investment Management, managed by Neil Woodford, holds the biggest position in Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS). Woodford Investment Management has a $305.5 million position in the stock, comprising 17.6% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Citadel Investment Group, led by Ken Griffin, holding a $85.3 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other members of the smart money that hold long positions encompass Bihua Chen’s Cormorant Asset Management, Justin John Ferayorni’s Tamarack Capital Management and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.
Because Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) has faced a declination in interest from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there was a specific group of funds who were dropping their entire stakes by the end of the third quarter. Intriguingly, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies cut the biggest position of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, comprising an estimated $14.8 million in stock, and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $14.4 million worth. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 3 funds by the end of the third quarter.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS). These stocks are Shaw Communications Inc (USA) (NYSE:SJR), Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI), Amdocs Limited (NASDAQ:DOX), and NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP). This group of stocks’ market values are closest to ALKS’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| SJR | 15 | 150967 | 3 |
| DRI | 33 | 1354857 | -5 |
| DOX | 26 | 603157 | 5 |
| NTAP | 26 | 318484 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $607 million. That figure was $523 million in ALKS’s case. Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Shaw Communications Inc (USA) (NYSE:SJR) is the least popular one with only 15 bullish hedge fund positions. Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard DRI might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
