ChemoCentryx Inc (CCXI): Hedge Funds Are Bullish and Insiders Are Bearish, What Should You Do?

ChemoCentryx Inc (NASDAQ:CCXI) was in 6 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of March. CCXI has experienced an increase in enthusiasm from smart money recently. There were 4 hedge funds in our database with CCXI holdings at the end of the previous quarter.

In today’s marketplace, there are tons of gauges shareholders can use to monitor Mr. Market. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can beat the market by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. Obviously, there are plenty of incentives for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if investors know what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, we’re going to take a look at the recent action encompassing ChemoCentryx Inc (NASDAQ:CCXI).

Hedge fund activity in ChemoCentryx Inc (NASDAQ:CCXI)

At Q1’s end, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 50% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes considerably.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Jay Venkatesen’s Ayer Capital Management had the largest position in ChemoCentryx Inc (NASDAQ:CCXI), worth close to $1.8 million, comprising 1.5% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Visium Asset Management, managed by Jacob Gottlieb, which held a $1.5 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Richard Driehaus’s Driehaus Capital, Julian Baker and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.

Consequently, some big names have been driving this bullishness. Driehaus Capital, managed by Richard Driehaus, established the most outsized position in ChemoCentryx Inc (NASDAQ:CCXI). Driehaus Capital had 0.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw also made a $0.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new CCXI position is Tom Russo’s Gardner Russo & Gardner.

How have insiders been trading ChemoCentryx Inc (NASDAQ:CCXI)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the company in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last six-month time period, ChemoCentryx Inc (NASDAQ:CCXI) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to ChemoCentryx Inc (NASDAQ:CCXI). These stocks are Sequenom, Inc. (NASDAQ:SQNM), Emergent Biosolutions Inc (NYSE:EBS), Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc. (NYSEAMEX:PLX), Hyperion Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:HPTX), and Sangamo Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO). All of these stocks are in the biotechnology industry and their market caps are closest to CCXI’s market cap.