Synageva BioPharma Corp (GEVA): Hedge Funds and Insiders Are Bullish, What Should You Do?

Is Synageva BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:GEVA) undervalued? The smart money is turning bullish. The number of bullish hedge fund positions advanced by 1 recently.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are tons of indicators investors can use to track stocks. Some of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can outclass the market by a healthy amount (see just how much).

Just as key, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are many motivations for an executive to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a gander at the latest action regarding Synageva BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:GEVA).

What does the smart money think about Synageva BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:GEVA)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 17% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, Julian Baker and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors had the largest position in Synageva BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:GEVA), worth close to $506.5 million, accounting for 10.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Baker Bros. Advisors’s heels is Richard Driehaus of Driehaus Capital, with a $10.6 million position; the fund has 0.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies with similar optimism include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers have been driving this bullishness. D E Shaw, managed by D. E. Shaw, assembled the largest position in Synageva BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:GEVA). D E Shaw had 0.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter.

What have insiders been doing with Synageva BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:GEVA)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest 180-day time frame, Synageva BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:GEVA) has experienced 3 unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Synageva BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:GEVA). These stocks are Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR), Acorda Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ACOR), ImmunoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN), Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ:VPHM), and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY). This group of stocks are in the biotechnology industry and their market caps are closest to GEVA’s market cap.