To the average investor, there are tons of methods market participants can use to track publicly traded companies. Two of the most useful are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can outpace the market by a significant margin (see just how much).
Equally as useful, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to analyze the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of motivations for a bullish insider to sell shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if “monkeys” know what to do (learn more here).
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s discuss the latest info surrounding Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KYTH).
How have hedgies been trading Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KYTH)?
At the end of the second quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 30% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes considerably.
According to our 13F database, Partner Fund Management, managed by Christopher Medlock James, holds the biggest position in Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KYTH). Partner Fund Management has a $30.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.6% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson of Adage Capital Management, with a $11.5 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital, Julian Baker and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors and Jeremy Green’s Redmile Group.
With a general bullishness amongst the titans, specific money managers have been driving this bullishness. Partner Fund Management, managed by Christopher MedlockáJames, initiated the biggest position in Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KYTH). Partner Fund Management had 30.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management also made a $11.5 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new KYTH investors: Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley’s Polar Capital, Julian Baker and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors, and Jeremy Green’s Redmile Group.
How are insiders trading Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KYTH)?
Legal insider trading, particularly when it’s bullish, is most useful when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time period, Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KYTH) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
We’ll also examine the relationship between both of these indicators in other stocks similar to Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KYTH). These stocks are Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ICPT), Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL), Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KERX), Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTX), and Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECYT). This group of stocks are the members of the drug manufacturers – major industry and their market caps are similar to KYTH’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ICPT) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIGL) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KERX) | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTX) | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECYT) | 12 | 0 | 0 |
Using the results shown by our strategies, average investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:KYTH) is an important part of this process.
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