Maxygen, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAXY) was in 7 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. MAXY has seen a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late. There were 7 hedge funds in our database with MAXY holdings at the end of the previous quarter.
In the eyes of most shareholders, hedge funds are viewed as underperforming, outdated financial tools of years past. While there are over 8000 funds in operation today, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the moguls of this group, close to 450 funds. It is widely believed that this group controls the lion’s share of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by tracking their top picks, we have determined a few investment strategies that have historically beaten Mr. Market. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outpaced the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have topped the S&P 500 index by 24 percentage points in 7 months (see the details here).
Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the world of equities. There are plenty of incentives for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if investors understand what to do (learn more here).
With all of this in mind, let’s take a look at the key action encompassing Maxygen, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAXY).
What does the smart money think about Maxygen, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAXY)?
In preparation for this year, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings significantly.
Of the funds we track, Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, holds the largest position in Maxygen, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAXY). Renaissance Technologies has a $2.2 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, which held a $1.6 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds with similar optimism include John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.
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Insider trading activity in Maxygen, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAXY)
Insider buying is most useful when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last half-year time period, Maxygen, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAXY) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also examine hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Maxygen, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAXY). These stocks are Forrester Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:FORR), National Research Corporation (NASDAQ:NRCI), Bioanalytical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BASI), Luna Innovations Incorporated (NASDAQ:LUNA), and National Technical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTSC). This group of stocks belong to the research services industry and their market caps are closest to MAXY’s market cap.
