Morning Market Gainers: Signal Genetics Inc (SGNL), Asterias Biotherapeutics Inc (AST), TreeHouse Foods Inc. (THS)

Hedge fund activity in Asterias Biotherapeutics Inc (NYSEMKT:AST) and TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS)

At the end of the first quarter, a total of four of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long in Asterias Biotherapeutics, a change of 100% from one quarter earlier. The total value of the holdings increased by a whopping 885.71% to $5.24 million at the end of the first quarter from just $532,000 in the previous quarter. This is still a significant increase even if the company’s shares jumped 108.3% in the first quarter of 2015. As industrywide interest jumped, specific money managers were breaking ground. Broadwood Capital, managed by Neal C. Bradsher, created the biggest position in Asterias Biotherapeutics Inc (NYSEMKT:AST). Broadwood Capital had $4.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $374,000 investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new Asterias position was Michael Platt and William Reeves’ BlueCrest Capital Management.

Also at the end of the first quarter, a total of 13 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long in TreeHouse Foods, down 7% from the end of the fourth quarter of 2014. In terms of the total value of their holdings, hedge funds held $162.73 million at the end of the first quarter, down 2% from $166.05 million in the prior quarter. The stock went down in value by 0.6% in the first quarter. When looking at the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management had the largest position in TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS), worth close to $61.4 million, corresponding to 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. On Fisher Asset Management’s heels was Clint Carlson of Carlson Capital, with a $24.2 million position. Other members of the smart money that were bullish comprise of Anand Parekh’s Alyeska Investment Group, David E. Shaw’s D.E. Shaw & Co., L.P., and Lee Munder’s Lee Munder Capital Group. Because TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS) experienced bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, there were a few money managers that elected to cut their full holdings in the first quarter. Interestingly, Daniel Gold‘s QVT Financial sold off the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds followed by Insider Monkey, comprising 132,450 shares, worth an estimated $11.3 million. Richard Driehaus’ fund, Driehaus Capital, also cut its stake of 56,850 shares, worth about $4.9 million.

Disclosure: None