We at Insider Monkey have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the SEC. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article we will look at what those investors think of Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX).
Overall, Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) has seen a decrease in enthusiasm from smart money in recent months, but to get a better sense of its popularity we will also compare BSX to other stocks including PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), Prudential Financial Inc (NYSE:PRU), and Liberty Global PLC LiLAC Class C (NASDAQ:LILAK), at the end of this article.
Follow Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE:BSX)
Follow Boston Scientific Corp (NYSE:BSX)
At Insider Monkey, we’ve developed an investment strategy that has delivered market-beating returns over the past 12 months. Our strategy identifies the 100 best-performing funds of the previous quarter from among the collection of 700+ successful funds that we track in our database, which we accomplish using our returns methodology. We then study the portfolios of those 100 funds using the latest 13F data to uncover the 30 most popular mid-cap stocks (market caps of between $1 billion and $10 billion) among them to hold until the next filing period. This strategy delivered 18% gains over the past 12 months, more than doubling the 8% returns enjoyed by the S&P 500 ETFs.
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Keeping this in mind, let’s review the key action regarding Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX).
What have hedge funds been doing with Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX)?
A total of 46 funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on Boston Scientific Corporation at the end of the third quarter, down by 2% from the end of June. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors has the largest position in Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX), worth close to $409.6 million, corresponding to 4.7% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, which holds a $222.3 million position; the fund has 0.4% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining peers with similar optimism encompass Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Principal Global Investors’ Columbus Circle Investors.
Since Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) has experienced declining sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of hedge funds that slashed their entire stakes heading into Q4. Intriguingly, Benjamin A. Smith’s Laurion Capital Management said goodbye to the largest stake of all the hedgies watched by Insider Monkey, valued at an estimated $15.9 million in stock, and Paul Sinclair’s Blue Jay Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $11 million worth.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX). These stocks are PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), Prudential Financial Inc (NYSE:PRU), Liberty Global PLC LiLAC Class C (NASDAQ:LILAK), and Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to BSX’s market valuation.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCG | 23 | 1088480 | -3 |
| PRU | 28 | 520358 | -7 |
| LILAK | 43 | 941029 | -19 |
| APD | 56 | 4335573 | 0 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 38 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1.72 billion. That figure was $1.74 billion in BSX’s case. Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) is the least popular one with only 23 bullish hedge fund positions. Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) 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 Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
