OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (OGXI): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Is OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OGXI) a cheap investment today? Money managers are getting more bullish. The number of long hedge fund bets improved by 2 lately.

To the average investor, there are many gauges shareholders can use to monitor stocks. Two of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best fund managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a superb amount (see just how much).

Just as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the stock market universe. Obviously, there are many motivations for an executive to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if piggybackers understand what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a gander at the recent action encompassing OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OGXI).

How have hedgies been trading OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OGXI)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 50% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, RA Capital Management, managed by Peter Kolchinsky, holds the biggest position in OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OGXI). RA Capital Management has a $9.8 million position in the stock, comprising 2.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Visium Asset Management, managed by Jacob Gottlieb, which held a $5.1 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining peers that are bullish include Daniel Gold’s QVT Financial, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk’s GRT Capital Partners.

As aggregate interest increased, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, initiated the biggest position in OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OGXI). Millennium Management had 0.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw also initiated a $0.1 million position during the quarter.

What have insiders been doing with OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OGXI)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last 180-day time period, OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OGXI) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OGXI). These stocks are Cempra Inc (NASDAQ:CEMP), Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK), ShangPharma Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SHP), Durata Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:DRTX), and Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENZN). This group of stocks are in the biotechnology industry and their market caps resemble OGXI’s market cap.