Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (REGN): Key Data To Keep An Eye On

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) investors should be aware of an increase in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months.

To the average investor, there are plenty of methods shareholders can use to monitor the equity markets. A couple of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best hedge fund managers can trounce the broader indices by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the investments you’re interested in. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of motivations for a bullish insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if you understand what to do (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action regarding Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN).

How are hedge funds trading Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN)?

Heading into 2013, a total of 17 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 6% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Sectoral Asset Management, managed by Jerome Pfund and Michael Sjostrom, holds the most valuable position in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN). Sectoral Asset Management has a $59 million position in the stock, comprising 2.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, which held a $54.5 million position; 0.4% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies with similar optimism include Christopher Medlock James’s Partner Fund Management, and Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors.

As industrywide interest jumped, some big names were leading the bulls’ herd. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, assembled the largest position in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN). Renaissance Technologies had 16 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management also made a $8.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new REGN positions are Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Insider trading activity in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN)

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 16 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN). These stocks are Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB), Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN), BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX), and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN). This group of stocks belong to the biotechnology industry and their market caps are similar to REGN’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned studies, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) is an important part of this process.

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