Before we spend countless hours researching a company, we like to analyze what insiders, hedge funds and billionaire investors think of the stock first. This is a necessary first step in our investment process because our research has shown that the elite investors’ consensus returns have been exceptional. In the following paragraphs, we find out what the billionaire investors and hedge funds think of Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKPT).
Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKPT) shares haven’t seen a lot of action during the second quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged. The stock was in 3 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2020. Our calculations also showed that CKPT isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q3 rankings and see the video for a quick look at the top 5 stocks). 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 Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MIST), Sequans Communications SA (NYSE:SQNS), and Altus Midstream Company (NASDAQ:ALTM) to gather more data points.
Video: Watch our video about the top 5 most popular hedge fund stocks.
In the financial world there are numerous formulas market participants use to value stocks. A couple of the most under-the-radar formulas are hedge fund and insider trading moves. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can outpace the market by a superb margin (see the details here).
Israel Englander of Millennium Management
At Insider Monkey we scour multiple sources to uncover the next great investment idea. For example, Federal Reserve has been creating trillions of dollars electronically to keep the interest rates near zero. We believe this will lead to inflation and boost real estate prices. So, we recommended this real estate stock to our monthly premium newsletter subscribers. We go through lists like the 10 most profitable companies in the world to pick the best large-cap stocks to buy. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our website. With all of this in mind let’s check out the recent hedge fund action encompassing Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKPT).
Hedge fund activity in Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKPT)
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2020, a total of 3 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. On the other hand, there were a total of 2 hedge funds with a bullish position in CKPT a year ago. So, let’s review which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Sabby Capital, managed by Hal Mintz, holds the largest position in Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKPT). Sabby Capital has a $2.5 million position in the stock, comprising 0.4% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Renaissance Technologies, with a $0.3 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Sabby Capital allocated the biggest weight to Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKPT), around 0.37% of its 13F portfolio. Millennium Management is also relatively very bullish on the stock, dishing out 0.0004 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to CKPT.
We view hedge fund activity in the stock unfavorable, but in this case there was only a single hedge fund selling its entire position: Citadel Investment Group. One hedge fund selling its entire position doesn’t always imply a bearish intent. Theoretically a hedge fund may decide to sell a promising position in order to invest the proceeds in a more promising idea. However, we don’t think this is the case in this case because only one of the 800+ hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey identified as a viable investment and initiated a position in the stock (that fund was Sabby Capital).
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKPT) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MIST), Sequans Communications SA (NYSE:SQNS), Altus Midstream Company (NASDAQ:ALTM), Professional Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:PFHD), Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ:EGLE), Unity Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBX), and Moneygram International Inc (NASDAQ:MGI). This group of stocks’ market values match CKPT’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIST | 6 | 36390 | 3 |
| SQNS | 5 | 22324 | 0 |
| ALTM | 2 | 1021 | -4 |
| PFHD | 3 | 7982 | -1 |
| EGLE | 3 | 71453 | -4 |
| UBX | 5 | 1840 | -2 |
| MGI | 9 | 16462 | 1 |
| Average | 4.7 | 22496 | -1 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 4.7 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $22 million. That figure was $3 million in CKPT’s case. Moneygram International Inc (NASDAQ:MGI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Altus Midstream Company (NASDAQ:ALTM) is the least popular one with only 2 bullish hedge fund positions. Checkpoint Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKPT) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for CKPT is 34.6. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed that top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 41.3% in 2019 and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 10 percentage points. These stocks gained 28.1% in 2020 through November 23rd and surpassed the market again by 15.4 percentage points. Unfortunately CKPT wasn’t nearly as popular as these 20 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was quite bearish); CKPT investors were disappointed as the stock returned -13.1% since the end of September (through 11/23) and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds as most of these stocks already outperformed the market in 2020.
Follow Checkpoint Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CKPT)
Follow Checkpoint Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CKPT)
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
