Is Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMPE) A Good Stock To Buy?

We at Insider Monkey have gone over 700 13F filings that hedge funds and prominent investors are required to file by the government. The 13F filings show the funds’ and investors’ portfolio positions as of September 30. In this article, we look at what those funds think of Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSEMKT:AMPE) based on that data.

Ampio Pharmaceuticals shareholders have witnessed a decrease in hedge fund sentiment in recent months. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity, but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Agile Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AGRX), Century Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNTY), and J Alexander’s Holdings Inc (NYSE:JAX) to gather more data points.

Follow Ampio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE:AMPE)

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Keeping this in mind, let’s go over the new action surrounding Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSEMKT:AMPE).

How have hedgies been trading Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSEMKT:AMPE)?

Heading into Q4, a total of 5 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, a change of -44% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Fred Knoll’s Knoll Capital Management has the biggest position in Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSEMKT:AMPE), worth close to $9.8 million, amounting to 4.2% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Millennium Management, led by Israel Englander, holding a $0.5 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock.

Seeing as Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSEMKT:AMPE) has experienced falling interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few fund managers that elected to cut their entire stakes by the end of the third quarter. Intriguingly, Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp dropped the biggest investment of the “upper crust” of funds tracked by Insider Monkey, totaling about $0.2 million in stock. Ken Griffin’s fund, Citadel Investment Group, also said goodbye to its stock, about $0.2 million worth. These moves are interesting, as total hedge fund interest dropped by 4 funds by the end of the third quarter.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSEMKT:AMPE) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Agile Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AGRX), Century Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNTY), J Alexander’s Holdings Inc (NYSE:JAX), and Harmony Merger Corp (NASDAQ:HRMNU). This group of stocks’ market values resemble AMPE’s market value.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
AGRX 9 41890 -1
CNTY 8 33083 1
JAX 18 31596 18
HRMNU 6 25560 0

As you can see these stocks had an average of 10 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $33 million. That figure was just $11 million in AMPE’s case. J Alexander’s Holdings Inc (NYSE:JAX) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Harmony Merger Corp (NASDAQ:HRMNU) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSEMKT:AMPE) is even less popular than HRMNU. 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.