Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SNSS): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

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 funds think of Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNSS) based on that data.

Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNSS) investors should be aware of a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently. 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 Support.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRT), American Superconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:AMSC), and Vertex Energy Inc (NASDAQ:VTNR) to gather more data points.

In the financial world, there are dozens of gauges market participants put to use to analyze stocks. A pair of the most innovative gauges are hedge fund and insider trading activity. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite money managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a significant amount (see the details here).

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to go over the recent action encompassing Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNSS).

How have hedgies been trading Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNSS)?

At the end of Q3, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a decline of 32% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Palo Alto Investors, managed by William Leland Edwards, holds the most valuable position in Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNSS). Palo Alto Investors has a $5.7 million position in the stock, comprising 0.3% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Great Point Partners, managed by Jeffrey Jay and David Kroin, which holds a $2.6 million position; the fund has 1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish encompass Julian Baker and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors, Farallon Capital and Mark Lampert’s Biotechnology Value Fund / BVF Inc.