Should You Buy Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OPTR)?

Should Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTR) investors track the following data?

At the moment, there are plenty of metrics investors can use to track their holdings. Two of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can beat the market by a superb amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to analyze the stock market universe. Just as you’d expect, there are plenty of stimuli for an insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if investors understand what to do (learn more here).

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s analyze the newest info surrounding Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTR).

How are hedge funds trading Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTR)?

In preparation for the third quarter, a total of 15 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 36% 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 upping their stakes considerably.

Out of the hedge funds we follow, James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management had the biggest position in Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTR), worth close to $43.8 million, comprising 2.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Deerfield Management’s heels is QVT Financial, managed by Daniel Gold, which held a $23.6 million position; the fund has 1.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Matthew Halbower’s Pentwater Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Sander Gerber’s Hudson Bay Capital Management.

As one would understandably expect, certain bigger names were leading the bulls’ herd. Deerfield Management, managed by James E. Flynn, initiated the most valuable position in Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTR). Deerfield Management had 43.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Daniel Gold’s QVT Financial also made a $23.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new OPTR positions are Matthew Halbower’s Pentwater Capital Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, and Sander Gerber’s Hudson Bay Capital Management.

How are insiders trading Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTR)?

Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is best served when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time frame, Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTR) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

We’ll check out the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPTR). These stocks are EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS), ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD), Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:MACK), Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CADX), and Array Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:ARRY). This group of stocks are in the biotechnology industry and their market caps are closest to OPTR’s market cap.