Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Senomyx Inc. (SNMX)

Senomyx Inc. (NASDAQ:SNMX) has experienced a decrease in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late.

To most traders, hedge funds are seen as unimportant, old financial vehicles of the past. While there are over 8000 funds trading at present, we at Insider Monkey hone in on the leaders of this club, around 450 funds. It is estimated that this group oversees most of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by watching their best equity investments, we have formulated a number of investment strategies that have historically outpaced the broader indices. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outperformed the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points per year for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve began to sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outperformed the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (see all of our picks from August).

Kerr Neilson

Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is another way to parse down the world of equities. As the old adage goes: there are a number of reasons for a corporate insider to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Various academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this strategy if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a look at the key action encompassing Senomyx Inc. (NASDAQ:SNMX).

What does the smart money think about Senomyx Inc. (NASDAQ:SNMX)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -13% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.

Of the funds we track, Prescott Group Capital Management, managed by Phil Frohlich, holds the largest position in Senomyx Inc. (NASDAQ:SNMX). Prescott Group Capital Management has a $3.2 million position in the stock, comprising 0.7% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is RA Capital Management, managed by Peter Kolchinsky, which held a $3.2 million position; the fund has 0.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies with similar optimism include Kerr Neilson’s Platinum Asset Management, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors.

Since Senomyx Inc. (NASDAQ:SNMX) has witnessed falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few fund managers that slashed their entire stakes heading into Q2. It’s worth mentioning that Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk’s GRT Capital Partners cut the largest position of the 450+ funds we track, comprising about $0.1 million in stock., and Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund cut about $0 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 1 funds heading into Q2.

How have insiders been trading Senomyx Inc. (NASDAQ:SNMX)?

Bullish insider trading is best served when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, Senomyx Inc. (NASDAQ:SNMX) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s studies, everyday investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Senomyx Inc. (NASDAQ:SNMX) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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