Hedge Funds and other institutional investors have just completed filing their 13Fs with the Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing their equity portfolios as of the end of September. At Insider Monkey, we follow over 700 of the best-performing investors and by analyzing their 13F filings, we can determine the stocks that they are collectively bullish on. One of their picks is Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNCE), so let’s take a closer look at the sentiment that surrounds it in the current quarter.
Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNCE) investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund interest lately. 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 Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN), The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCKT), and Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin Inc. (NASDAQ:ABCW) to gather more data points.
Follow Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE:CNCE)
Follow Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE:CNCE)
According to most investors, hedge funds are viewed as slow, outdated financial tools of the past. While there are more than 8000 funds trading at the moment, Our experts look at the crème de la crème of this group, approximately 700 funds. These hedge fund managers command the lion’s share of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by shadowing their best equity investments, Insider Monkey has deciphered several investment strategies that have historically surpassed the S&P 500 index. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points per annum for a decade in their back tests.
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a gander at the fresh action surrounding Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNCE).
What have hedge funds been doing with Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNCE)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, an increase of 18% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Biotechnology Value Fund / BVF Inc, managed by Mark Lampert, holds the most valuable position in Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNCE). The fund reportedly holds a $42.3 million stake in the company, comprising 8.6% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Millennium Management, run by Israel Englander, which holds a $18.2 million position; the fund has less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other members of the smart money that hold long positions consist of Julian Baker and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors, Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have jumped into Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNCE) headfirst. Fisher Asset Management, managed by Ken Fisher, initiated the most outsized position in Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNCE). According to its latest 13F filing, the fund had $1.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also made a $0.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, and Joseph Edelman’s Perceptive Advisors.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNCE) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Hawkins, Inc. (NASDAQ:HWKN), The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCKT), Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin Inc. (NASDAQ:ABCW), and Connecticut Water Service, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTWS). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble CNCE’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| HWKN | 6 | 58860 | 0 |
| HCKT | 20 | 37959 | 7 |
| ABCW | 11 | 110615 | 3 |
| CTWS | 5 | 7835 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 101 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $54 million. That figure was $80 million in CNCE’s case. The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCKT) is the most popular stock in this table, while Connecticut Water Service, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTWS) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNCE) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. Although this is a slightly positive signal, we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard HCKT might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
