Hedge Funds Are Buying Oncothyreon Inc (USA) (ONTY)

Is Oncothyreon Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:ONTY) 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.

Oncothyreon Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:ONTY) has seen an increase in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months. ONTY was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. There were 18 hedge funds in our database with ONTY holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare ONTY to other stocks, including Nam Tai Property Inc (NYSE:NTP), Ignyta Inc (NASDAQ:RXDX), and Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:HOV) to get a better sense of its popularity.

Follow Cascadian Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CASC)

To most stock holders, hedge funds are assumed to be underperforming, outdated financial vehicles of years past. While there are greater than an 8000 funds in operation at present, Our researchers hone in on the elite of this club, around 700 funds. These investment experts administer the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by tracking their first-class investments, Insider Monkey has found various investment strategies that have historically exceeded the market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy exceeded the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points per year for a decade in their back tests.

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a gander at the latest action surrounding Oncothyreon Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:ONTY).

How are hedge funds trading Oncothyreon Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:ONTY)?

Heading into Q4, a total of 19 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of 6% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Mark Lampert’s Biotechnology Value Fund / BVF Inc has the number one position in Oncothyreon Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:ONTY), worth close to $44.8 million, comprising 9.1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by venBio Select Advisor, managed by Behzad Aghazadeh, which holds a $15.1 million position; 3.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish include Jeremy Green’s Redmile Group, Howard Guberman’s Gruss Asset Management and Oleg Nodelman’s EcoR1 Capital.

As one would reasonably expect, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. EcoR1 Capital created the most outsized position in Oncothyreon Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:ONTY). EcoR1 Capital had $2.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management also initiated a $0.1 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new ONTY position is Ben Levine, Andrew Manuel and Stefan Renold’s LMR Partners.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Oncothyreon Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:ONTY) but similarly valued. These stocks are Nam Tai Property Inc (NYSE:NTP), Ignyta Inc (NASDAQ:RXDX), Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:HOV), and Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to ONTY’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
NTP 8 27450 1
RXDX 12 79834 -6
HOV 16 37867 5
CYTK 17 47150 4

As you can see these stocks had an average of 13 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $48 million. That figure was $84 million in ONTY’s case. Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK) is the most popular stock in this table, while Nam Tai Property Inc (NYSE:NTP) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Oncothyreon Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:ONTY) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.