Pain Therapeutics, Inc. (PTIE): How Does It Compare Against Its Peers?

A whopping number of 13F filings filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been processed by Insider Monkey so that individual investors can look at the overall hedge fund sentiment towards the stocks included in their watchlists. These freshly-submitted public filings disclose money managers’ equity positions as of the end of the three-month period that ended September 30, so let’s proceed with the discussion of the hedge fund sentiment on Pain Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTIE).

Pain Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTIE) has experienced a decrease in hedge fund interest lately. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with PTIE positions at the end of the second quarter, which had fallen to 6 by the end of the third quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare PTIE to other stocks including CymaBay Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CBAY), Hamilton Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:HBK), and GulfMark Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:GLF) to get a better sense of its popularity.

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How have hedgies been trading Pain Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTIE)?

At Q3’s end, a total of 6 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a 14% drop from one quarter earlier. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards PTIE over the last 5 quarters, which declined by 33% during that time. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Wilmot B. Harkey and Daniel Mack’s Nantahala Capital Management has the most valuable position in Pain Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTIE), worth close to $3.9 million. The second most bullish fund manager is Biotechnology Value Fund, led by Mark Lampert, holding a $2.3 million position. Remaining hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism include Renaissance Technologies, one of the largest hedge funds in the world, Ari Zweiman’s 683 Capital Partners, and David E. Shaw’s D E Shaw. We should note that two of these hedge funds (Nantahala Capital Management and 683 Capital Partners) are among our list of the 100 best performing hedge funds, which is based on the performance of their 13F long positions in non-micro-cap stocks.

We view hedge fund activity in the stock as unfavorable, but in this case there was only a single hedge fund selling its entire position: First Eagle Investment Management. One hedge fund selling its entire position doesn’t always imply a bearish intent. Theoretically a hedge fund may decide to sell a promising position in order to invest the proceeds in a more promising idea. However, we don’t think this is the case in this case because only one of the 800+ hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey identified as a viable investment and initiated a position in the stock (that fund was 683 Capital Partners).

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Pain Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTIE) but similarly valued. These stocks are CymaBay Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CBAY), Hamilton Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:HBK), GulfMark Offshore, Inc. (NYSE:GLF), and FalconStor Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:FALC). This group of stocks’ market values match PTIE’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 4 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $6 million. That figure was $8 million in PTIE’s case. CymaBay Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CBAY) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Hamilton Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:HBK) is the least popular one with only 3 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Pain Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTIE) 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.

Disclosure: None