Is aTyr Pharma Inc (LIFE) A Good Stock To Buy?

Due to the fact that aTyr Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:LIFE) has witnessed a declination in interest from the aggregate hedge fund industry, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that elected to cut their positions entirely heading into Q4. It’s worth mentioning that Mark Lampert’s Biotechnology Value Fund / BVF Inc said goodbye to the largest position of all the hedgies monitored by Insider Monkey, valued at close to $2.5 million in stock, and William Michaelcheck’s Mariner Investment Group was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $0.9 million worth of shares. These transactions are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 1 fund heading into Q4.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as aTyr Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:LIFE) but similarly valued. These stocks are Mobileiron Inc (NASDAQ:MOBL), UMH Properties, Inc (NYSE:UMH), EnerNOC, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENOC), and CSS Industries, Inc. (NYSE:CSS). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to aTyr Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:LIFE)’s market cap.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 8 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $23 million. That figure was $47 million in aTyr Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:LIFE)’s case. EnerNOC, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENOC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, UMH Properties, Inc (NYSE:UMH) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. aTyr Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:LIFE) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard, EnerNOC, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENOC) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.