We, at Insider Monkey, have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the government. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article, we look at what those funds think of PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PDLI) based on that data.
PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PDLI) shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund sentiment recently. 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 Wilshire Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:WIBC), National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI), and Acceleron Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:XLRN) to gather more data points.
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Follow Pdl Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PDLI)
According to most stock holders, hedge funds are viewed as worthless, outdated investment tools of yesteryear. While there are over 8000 funds trading at the moment, Our experts choose to focus on the moguls of this club, about 700 funds. These money managers shepherd the lion’s share of the smart money’s total capital, and by paying attention to their best investments, Insider Monkey has spotted many investment strategies that have historically outrun the market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points a year for a decade in their back tests.
Now, we’re going to take a look at the recent action encompassing PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PDLI).
Hedge fund activity in PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PDLI)
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 20 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, an increase of 43% from the second quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings significantly (or already accumulated large positions).
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Renaissance Technologies has the biggest position in PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PDLI), worth close to $45.3 million, amounting to 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Joel Greenblatt of Gotham Asset Management, with a $25.4 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other members of the smart money that hold long positions consist of John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management.
As aggregate interest increased, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Marshall Wace LLP, managed by Paul Marshall and Ian Wace, initiated the largest position in PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PDLI). Marshall Wace LLP had $0.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management also initiated a $0.6 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new PDLI positions are Michael Platt and William Reeves’s BlueCrest Capital Mgmt., Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, and Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk’s GRT Capital Partners.
Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PDLI). These stocks are Wilshire Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:WIBC), National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI), Acceleron Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:XLRN), and Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT). This group of stocks’ market values resembles PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PDLI)’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| WIBC | 14 | 44218 | 1 |
| NCMI | 18 | 69337 | 4 |
| XLRN | 15 | 99202 | -3 |
| CLDT | 16 | 159382 | 0 |
As you can see, these stocks had an average of 16 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $93 million. That figure was $89 million in PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PDLI)’s case. National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCMI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Wilshire Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:WIBC) is the least popular one with only 14 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks, PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ:PDLI) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.
