Is Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:NAVB) a good equity to bet on right now? We like to check what the smart money thinks first before doing extensive research. Although there have been several high profile failed hedge fund picks, the consensus picks among hedge fund investors have historically outperformed the market after adjusting for known risk attributes. It’s not surprising given that hedge funds have access to better information and more resources to find the latest market-moving information.
Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:NAVB) investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately. NAVB was in 7 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 6 hedge funds in our database with NAVB positions at the end of the previous quarter. 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 Ares Commercial Real Estate Corp (NYSE:ACRE), Xcerra Corp (NASDAQ:XCRA), and Arrowhead Research Corp (NASDAQ:ARWR) to gather more data points.
Follow Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSEMKT:NAVB)
Follow Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSEMKT:NAVB)
Keeping this in mind, let’s view the key action encompassing Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:NAVB).
Hedge fund activity in Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:NAVB)
At Q3’s end, a total of 7 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 17% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Platinum Management, managed by Mark A. Nordlicht, holds the most valuable position in Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:NAVB). Platinum Management has an $29 million position in the stock, comprising 93.1% of its 13F portfolio. On Platinum Management’s heels is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which holds an $1 million position; the fund has less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other professional money managers that hold long positions comprise Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
As aggregate interest increased, key hedge funds have jumped into Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:NAVB) headfirst. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, created the most valuable position in Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:NAVB). Renaissance Technologies had $1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also initiated an $0.1 million position during the quarter. The other fund with a brand new NAVB position is Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.
Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:NAVB). We will take a look at Ares Commercial Real Estate Corp (NYSE:ACRE), Xcerra Corp (NASDAQ:XCRA), Arrowhead Research Corp (NASDAQ:ARWR), and Ocean Rig UDW Inc (NASDAQ:ORIG). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to NAVB’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACRE | 13 | 23376 | -1 |
| XCRA | 19 | 48566 | -3 |
| ARWR | 10 | 27001 | 1 |
| ORIG | 15 | 76592 | -1 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 14.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $44 million. That figure was $30 million in NAVB’s case. Xcerra Corp (NASDAQ:XCRA) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Arrowhead Research Corp (NASDAQ:ARWR) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NYSEMKT:NAVB) is even less popular than ARWR. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.
