Is Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN) shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund sentiment of late.

To the average investor, there are a multitude of methods investors can use to analyze stocks. A couple of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite fund managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a significant margin (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading activity is another way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are lots of incentives for an executive to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors understand what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a gander at the key action surrounding Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN).

What does the smart money think about Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 21 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 5% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN), worth close to $260 million, accounting for 0.8% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $60 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital and Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors.

As aggregate interest increased, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, created the biggest position in Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN). Columbus Circle Investors had 18 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management also made a $6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new MYGN positions are Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management, Mike Vranos’s Ellington, and Drew Cupps’s Cupps Capital Management.

Insider trading activity in Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN)

Insider buying is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results shown by Insider Monkey’s studies, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN) is an important part of this process.

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