We at Insider Monkey have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the government. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article we look at what those investors think of China Cord Blood Corp (NYSE:CO).
Is China Cord Blood Corp (NYSE:CO) going to take off soon? Investors who are in the know are getting more bullish. The number of long hedge fund positions moved up by 1 lately. China Cord Blood Corp (NYSE:CO) was in 6 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 5 hedge funds in our database with China Cord Blood Corp (NYSE:CO) holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Considering that the shares of China Cord Blood Corp were down 2.27% during the third quarter, we decided to find out more about the hedge funds holding positions in the company at the end of the third quarter.
The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity, but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article, we will examine companies such as Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS), iDreamSky Technology Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:DSKY), and Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN) to gather more data points.
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are a lot of metrics investors employ to assess their holdings. Two of the less known metrics are hedge fund and insider trading interest. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a very impressive amount (see the details here).
Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the fresh action surrounding China Cord Blood Corp (NYSE:CO).
What does the smart money think about China Cord Blood Corp (NYSE:CO)?
At the end of Q3, a total of 6 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, an increase of 20% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Kris Jenner, Gordon Bussard, Graham McPhail’s Rock Springs Capital Management has the biggest position in China Cord Blood Corp (NYSE:CO), worth close to $5.3 million, accounting for 0.4% of its total 13F portfolio. On Rock Springs Capital Management’s heels is Renaissance Technologies, holding a $3.4 million position; the fund has less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds and institutional investors with similar optimism encompass Farallon Capital, Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management, and GLG Partners.
Consequently, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Farallon Capital established the most valuable position in China Cord Blood Corp (NYSE:CO). Farallon Capital had $2.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. GLG Partners also initiated a $1.2 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new CO position is John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as China Cord Blood Corp (NYSE:CO) but similarly valued. These stocks are Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS), iDreamSky Technology Ltd(ADR) (NASDAQ:DSKY), Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN), and Ultratech, Inc. (NASDAQ:UTEK). All of these stocks’ market caps resemble China Cord Blood Corp (NYSE:CO)’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| CERS | 11 | 118012 | 0 |
| DSKY | 5 | 3265 | -2 |
| CCRN | 20 | 85592 | 4 |
| UTEK | 10 | 88446 | -1 |
As you can see, these stocks had an average of 12 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $74 million. That figure was $14 million in China Cord Blood Corp (NYSE:CO)’s case. Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, iDreamSky Technology Ltd(ADR) (NASDAQ:DSKY) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. China Cord Blood Corp (NYSE:CO) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard, Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ:CCRN) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
