Is Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) a good investment right now? We check hedge fund and billionaire investor sentiment before delving into hours of research. Hedge funds spend millions of dollars on Ivy League graduates, expert networks, and get tips from industry insiders. They fail miserably sometimes, but historically their consensus stock picks outperformed the market after adjusting for known risk factors.
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) was in 37 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) has seen an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately. There were 35 hedge funds in our database with Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) to other stocks, including PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL), Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE), and Koninklijke Philips NV (ADR) (NYSE:PHG) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE:BSX)
Follow Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE:BSX)
In the 21st century investor’s toolkit there are tons of signals shareholders have at their disposal to evaluate stocks. Two of the most useful signals are hedge fund and insider trading indicators. Experts at hedge fund tracking site Insider Monkey have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a solid amount (see the details here).
With all of this in mind, we’re going to view the latest action regarding Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX).
What does the smart money think about Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 37 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish in this stock, an increase of 6% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
According to publicly available hedge fund holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors had the biggest position in Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX), worth close to $394 million, corresponding to 4% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Israel Englander of Millennium Management, with a $160.8 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds with similar optimism include D E Shaw, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Alan Fournier’s Pennant Capital Management.
Consequently, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Viking Global, managed by Andreas Halvorsen, created the largest position in Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX). Viking Global had $26.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Millennium Management Subsidiary’s Decade Capital Management also made a $22.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new BSX investors: David Keidan’s Buckingham Capital Management, Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management, and David Harding’s Winton Capital Management.
Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX). These stocks are PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL), Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE), Koninklijke Philips NV (ADR) (NYSE:PHG), and Delphi Automotive PLC (NYSE:DLPH). This group of stocks’ market values match Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX)’s market value.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| PPL | 23 | 801609 | 1 |
| ETE | 27 | 709740 | -6 |
| PHG | 8 | 305627 | -5 |
| DLPH | 40 | 961139 | 1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $695 million. Delphi Automotive PLC (NYSE:DLPH) is the most popular stock in this table, while Koninklijke Philips NV (ADR) (NYSE:PHG) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX)’s popularity is above average in this group and, even though this is a slightly positive signal, we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard Delphi Automotive PLC (NYSE:DLPH) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
