With the third-quarter round of 13F filings behind us it is time to take a look at the stocks in which some of the best money managers in the world preferred to invest or sell heading into the fourth quarter. One of these stocks was CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC).
CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC) investors should be aware of a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently. It may not come as a surprise, as the stock was down 25.13% during the third quarter. However, there is no way to validate a connection between both, so we will try to understand the hedge fund sentiment by discussing the hedgies that held positions in CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC), at the end of September.
At the end of this article, we will also compare CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC) to other stocks, including Corenergy Infrastructure Trust Inc (NYSE:CORR), Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI), and Pacific Drilling SA (NYSE:PACD) to get a better sense of its popularity.
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According to most stock holders, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, old financial tools of years past. While there are over 8000 funds trading today, our experts choose to focus on the crème de la crème of this group, around 700 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group of people preside over the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by tailing their finest picks, Insider Monkey has brought to light a few investment strategies that have historically defeated the market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced 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 glance at the fresh action regarding CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC).
How are hedge funds trading CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC)?
Heading into Q4, a total of 8 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a decrease of 11% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Mark Lampert’s Biotechnology Value Fund / BVF Inc has the number one position in CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC), worth close to $14.6 million, accounting for 2.9% of its total 13F portfolio. On Biotechnology Value Fund / BVF Inc’s heels is Sabby Capital, led by Hal Mintz, holding an $0.8 million call position; less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other peers that are bullish contain Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Mitchell Blutt’s Consonance Capital Management, and Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management.
Judging by the fact that CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC) has witnessed a falling interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers that slashed their positions entirely by the end of the third quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Vishal Bhutani and Joshua Bederman’s Pyrrho Capital Management sold off the biggest investment of the 700 funds monitored by Insider Monkey, worth close to $1.2 million in stock. Renaissance Technologies also dropped its stock, about $1.1 million worth of shares. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell by 1 fund by the end of the third quarter.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Cell Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CTIC) but similarly valued. These stocks are Corenergy Infrastructure Trust Inc (NYSE:CORR), Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI), Pacific Drilling SA (NYSE:PACD), and Antares Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:ATRS). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC)’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| CORR | 9 | 24685 | -1 |
| NVMI | 7 | 21462 | -1 |
| PACD | 8 | 23604 | -6 |
| ATRS | 14 | 64767 | 2 |
As you can see, these stocks had an average of 10 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $34 million. That figure was $17 million in CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC)’s case. Antares Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:ATRS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC) 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, Antares Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:ATRS) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
