Hedge Funds Steering Clear of Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NVMI)

Judging by the fact that Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) has experienced declining sentiment from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there exists a select few fund managers who sold off their positions entirely by the end of the third quarter. Interestingly, Richard Driehaus’ Driehaus Capital said goodbye to the biggest stake of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, totaling about $2.7 million in stock. Matthew Hulsizer’s fund, PEAK6 Capital Management, also dumped its stock, about $0.2 million worth. These transactions are important to note, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 1 fund by the end of the third quarter.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Pacific Drilling SA (NYSE:PACD), Antares Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:ATRS), Harmony Gold Mining Co. (ADR) (NYSE:HMY), and Terraping 3 Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:TRTL). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd.’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 11 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $49 million. That figure was $21 million in Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd.’s case. Antares Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:ATRS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Pacific Drilling SA (NYSE:PACD) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) is even less popular than Pacific Drilling and Harmony Gold Mining. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.