Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (SGMO): Hedge Funds Are Bullish and Insiders Are Bearish, What Should You Do?

Is Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO) a buy here? Prominent investors are in an optimistic mood. The number of long hedge fund bets went up by 5 recently.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a multitude of metrics market participants can use to track stocks. A pair of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top hedge fund managers can trounce the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Just as integral, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the world of equities. There are a variety of reasons for a corporate insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if investors know where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a glance at the latest action regarding Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO).

Hedge fund activity in Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO)

At Q1’s end, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 125% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings meaningfully.

According to our comprehensive database, Peter Kolchinsky’s RA Capital Management had the most valuable position in Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO), worth close to $46 million, accounting for 9.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is RA Capital Management, managed by Peter Kolchinsky, which held a $9.6 million call position; 2.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other peers that are bullish include Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital and Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. RA Capital Management, managed by Peter Kolchinsky, initiated the most outsized call position in Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO). RA Capital Management had 9.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management also made a $5.3 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new SGMO positions are Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital, Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management, and Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies.

How are insiders trading Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO). These stocks are Sequenom, Inc. (NASDAQ:SQNM), Emergent Biosolutions Inc (NYSE:EBS), Hyperion Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:HPTX), Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc. (NYSEAMEX:PLX), and ChemoCentryx Inc (NASDAQ:CCXI). This group of stocks belong to the biotechnology industry and their market caps resemble SGMO’s market cap.