The worries about the election and the ongoing uncertainty about the path of interest-rate increases have been keeping investors on the sidelines. Of course, most hedge funds and other asset managers have been underperforming main stock market indices since the middle of 2015. Interestingly though, smaller-cap stocks registered their best performance relative to the large-capitalization stocks since the end of the June quarter, suggesting that this may be the best time to take a cue from their stock picks. In fact, the Russell 2000 Index gained more than 15% since the beginning of the third quarter, while the Standard and Poor’s 500 benchmark returned less than 6%. This article will lay out and discuss the hedge fund and institutional investor sentiment towards Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) .
Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) shares didn’t see a lot of action during the third quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged. The stock was in 17 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. At the end of this article we will also compare NKTR to other stocks including Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC), Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (NYSE:VAC), and Simpson Manufacturing Co, Inc. (NYSE:SSD) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)
Follow Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)
At Insider Monkey, we’ve developed an investment strategy that has delivered market-beating returns over the past 12 months. Our strategy identifies the 100 best-performing funds of the previous quarter from among the collection of 700+ successful funds that we track in our database, which we accomplish using our returns methodology. We then study the portfolios of those 100 funds using the latest 13F data to uncover the 30 most popular mid-cap stocks (market caps of between $1 billion and $10 billion) among them to hold until the next filing period. This strategy delivered 18% gains over the past 12 months, more than doubling the 8% returns enjoyed by the S&P 500 ETFs.
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With all of this in mind, let’s review the fresh action encompassing Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR).
How have hedgies been trading Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)?
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2016, a total of 17 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from the previous quarter. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards NKTR over the last 5 quarters. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, RA Capital Management, led by Peter Kolchinsky, holds the largest position in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR). RA Capital Management has a $63 million position in the stock, comprising 6.5% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Camber Capital Management, led by Stephen DuBois, which holds a $55 million position; 2.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining professional money managers that hold long positions include Roberto Mignone’s Bridger Management, Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP and Stanley Druckenmiller’s Duquesne Capital. We should note that none of these hedge funds are among our list of the 100 best performing hedge funds which is based on the performance of their 13F long positions in non-microcap stocks.
Since Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) has sustained falling interest from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there is a sect of money managers that elected to cut their positions entirely last quarter. Interestingly, Bihua Chen’s Cormorant Asset Management got rid of the biggest position of all the investors followed by Insider Monkey, totaling about $28.8 million in stock. Kevin C. Tang’s fund, Tang Capital Management, also dumped its stock, about $3.7 million worth.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR). We will take a look at Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC), Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (NYSE:VAC), Simpson Manufacturing Co, Inc. (NYSE:SSD), and American Assets Trust, Inc (NYSE:AAT). This group of stocks’ market values match NKTR’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMC | 16 | 146335 | -2 |
| VAC | 9 | 54980 | 1 |
| SSD | 13 | 189107 | -2 |
| AAT | 6 | 144693 | -5 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 11 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $134 million. That figure was $222 million in NKTR’s case. Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand American Assets Trust, Inc (NYSE:AAT) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) 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.
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