Before we spend many hours researching a company, we’d like to analyze what insiders, hedge funds and billionaire investors think of the stock first. We would like to do so because the elite investors’ consensus returns have been exceptional. In the following paragraphs, we find out what the billionaire investors and hedge funds think of NanoString Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:NSTG).
NanoString Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:NSTG) was in 16 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2018. NSTG shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund sentiment recently. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with NSTG holdings at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that NSTG isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.
In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are viewed as underperforming, outdated financial vehicles of the past. While there are more than 8,000 funds with their doors open at the moment, Our experts look at the moguls of this group, around 700 funds. Most estimates calculate that this group of people administer the majority of all hedge funds’ total capital, and by watching their unrivaled equity investments, Insider Monkey has spotted many investment strategies that have historically outrun the market. Insider Monkey’s flagship hedge fund strategy defeated the S&P 500 index by 6 percentage points per year since its inception in May 2014 through early November 2018. We were able to generate large returns even by identifying short candidates. Our portfolio of short stocks lost 24% since February 2017 (through December 3rd) even though the market was up nearly 23% during the same period. We just shared a list of 11 short targets in our latest quarterly update.
We’re going to check out the latest hedge fund action encompassing NanoString Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:NSTG).
What does the smart money think about NanoString Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:NSTG)?
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2018, a total of 16 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 45% from the second quarter of 2018. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in NSTG over the last 13 quarters. So, let’s see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
The largest stake in NanoString Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:NSTG) was held by Cadian Capital, which reported holding $41.6 million worth of stock at the end of September. It was followed by Broadfin Capital with a $15.2 million position. Other investors bullish on the company included Alyeska Investment Group, Polar Capital, and D E Shaw.
As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Broadfin Capital, managed by Kevin Kotler, created the largest position in NanoString Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:NSTG). Broadfin Capital had $15.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group also initiated a $9.2 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management, Constantinos J. Christofilis’s Archon Capital Management, and Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as NanoString Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:NSTG) but similarly valued. These stocks are Noodles & Co (NASDAQ:NDLS), Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX), Antares Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:ATRS), and Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to NSTG’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| NDLS | 14 | 54057 | 3 |
| PGNX | 12 | 114685 | -1 |
| ATRS | 9 | 49650 | 4 |
| CLNE | 8 | 20783 | -2 |
| Average | 10.75 | 60 | 1 |
View table here if you experience formatting issues.
As you can see these stocks had an average of 10.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $60 million. That figure was $120 million in NSTG’s case. Noodles & Co (NASDAQ:NDLS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks NanoString Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:NSTG) 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. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
