Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS) was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. CRIS investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with CRIS holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
To the average investor, there are plenty of methods shareholders can use to monitor the equity markets. Two of the best are hedge fund and insider trading movement. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a healthy amount (see just how much).
Equally as key, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of incentives for a corporate insider to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this method if piggybackers know where to look (learn more here).
Consequently, we’re going to take a look at the latest action surrounding Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS).
What have hedge funds been doing with Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS)?
At Q1’s end, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 43% from the first quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially.
When looking at the hedgies we track, First Eagle Investment Management, managed by Jean-Marie Eveillard, holds the biggest position in Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS). First Eagle Investment Management has a $55 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. On First Eagle Investment Management’s heels is OrbiMed Advisors, managed by Samuel Isaly, which held a $3.7 million position; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other peers that are bullish include Nathan Fischel’s DAFNA Capital Management, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
As aggregate interest increased, key hedge funds have jumped into Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS) headfirst. DAFNA Capital Management, managed by Nathan Fischel, created the biggest position in Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS). DAFNA Capital Management had 0.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management also made a $0.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a new position in the stock is Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors.
Insider trading activity in Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS)
Insider purchases made by high-level executives is most useful when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time frame, Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS). These stocks are Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX), Coronado Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:CNDO), Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:THLD), GTx, Inc. (NASDAQ:GTXI), and Oncolytics Biotech, Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:ONCY). This group of stocks are the members of the biotechnology industry and their market caps match CRIS’s market cap.
