Hedge Funds Aren’t Crazy About ProQR Therapeutics NV (PRQR) Anymore

Seeing as ProQR Therapeutics NV (NASDAQ:PRQR) has faced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there is a sect of hedgies that slashed their positions entirely in the third quarter. Interestingly, Malcolm Fairbairn’s Ascend Capital dumped the largest investment of the 700 funds followed by Insider Monkey, valued at close to $0.9 million in stock, and Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $0.2 million worth of stock. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 2 funds in the third quarter.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to ProQR Therapeutics NV (NASDAQ:PRQR). We will take a look at Regulus Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RGLS), First Defiance Financial (NASDAQ:FDEF), Versartic Inc (NASDAQ:VSAR), and Everi Holdings Inc (NYSE:EVRI). This group of stocks’ market values match PRQR’s market value.

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 $69 million. That figure was $86 million in PRQR’s case. Everi Holdings Inc (NYSE:EVRI) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand First Defiance Financial (NASDAQ:FDEF) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. ProQR Therapeutics NV (NASDAQ:PRQR) is not the most popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal, but we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard EVRI might be a better candidate to consider a long position.