Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NBIX): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) was in 16 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. NBIX has experienced an increase in hedge fund sentiment recently. There were 14 hedge funds in our database with NBIX positions at the end of the previous quarter.

At the moment, there are a multitude of methods market participants can use to analyze Mr. Market. Two of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of motivations for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if shareholders know where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a gander at the key action regarding Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX).

How are hedge funds trading Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 16 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 14% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.

Of the funds we track, OrbiMed Advisors, managed by Samuel Isaly, holds the largest position in Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX). OrbiMed Advisors has a $63.3 million position in the stock, comprising 1.5% of its 13F portfolio. On OrbiMed Advisors’s heels is Joseph Edelman of Perceptive Advisors, with a $53.5 million position; the fund has 6.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management, Sean Cullinan’s Point State Capital and Jeremy Green’s Redmile Group.

As one would reasonably expect, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Point State Capital, managed by Sean Cullinan, assembled the largest position in Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX). Point State Capital had 9.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Daniel Arbess’s Xerion also initiated a $4.2 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new NBIX investors: J. Alan Reid, Jr.’s Forward Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

How are insiders trading Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time frame, Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX). These stocks are Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KERX), Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL), Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ICPT), Impax Laboratories Inc (NASDAQ:IPXL), and Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:PCRX). This group of stocks belong to the drug manufacturers – major industry and their market caps match NBIX’s market cap.

With the results exhibited by the aforementioned strategies, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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