Can Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (SGMO) Win the Battle Against its Market Cap Peers?

Judging by the fact that Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of hedge funds who were dropping their positions entirely by the end of the third quarter. Interestingly, RA Capital Management said goodbye to the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds tracked by Insider Monkey, totaling about $66.5 million in stock, and Joseph Edelman’s Perceptive Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $8.9 million worth of shares. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 3 funds by the end of the third quarter.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO). We will take a look at Donegal Group Inc (NASDAQ:DGICA), Cascade Bancorp (NASDAQ:CACB), FormFactor, Inc. (NASDAQ:FORM), and Rudolph Technologies Inc (NYSE:RTEC). This group of stocks’ market values resemble SGMO’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 12 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $42 million. That figure was $66 million in SGMO’s case. Rudolph Technologies Inc (NYSE:RTEC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Donegal Group Inc (NASDAQ:DGICA) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO) is tied with RTEC as the most popular stock in this group and has more money invested in it. This is a positive signal, and both RTEC and SGMO might be good candidates to consider long positions in.