Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ:VPHM): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ:VPHM) has experienced an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers recently.

To the average investor, there are many indicators shareholders can use to monitor publicly traded companies. A duo of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a significant amount (see just how much).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the marketplace. Just as you’d expect, there are many incentives for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this method if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a glance at the key action surrounding Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ:VPHM).

Hedge fund activity in Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ:VPHM)

Heading into 2013, a total of 20 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 11% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Julian Baker and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors had the most valuable position in Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ:VPHM), worth close to $205 million, accounting for 5.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is William Leland Edwards of Palo Alto Investors, with a $87 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Sean Cullinan’s Point State Capital.

Consequently, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Columbus Circle Investors, managed by Donald Chiboucis, created the biggest position in Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ:VPHM). Columbus Circle Investors had 10 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies also initiated a $6 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Mike Vranos’s Ellington, Charles Davidson’s Wexford Capital, and David Harding’s Winton Capital Management.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ:VPHM)?

Insider buying is best served when the company we’re looking at has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest half-year time frame, Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ:VPHM) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results exhibited by the aforementioned tactics, retail investors must always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Viropharma Inc (NASDAQ:VPHM) applies perfectly to this mantra.

Click here to learn more about Insider Monkey’s Hedge Fund Newsletter

Insider Monkey’s small-cap strategy returned 29.2% between September 2012 and February 2013 versus 8.7% for the S&P 500 index. Try it now by clicking the link above.