Is Clovis Oncology Inc (CLVS) A Good Stock To Buy?

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Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:CLVS) was in 29 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of March. CLVS investors should be aware of an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately. There were 24 hedge funds in our database with CLVS positions at the end of the previous quarter. Our calculations also showed that clvs isn’t among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds.

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Samuel Isaly Orbimed Advisors

Let’s take a look at the recent hedge fund action encompassing Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:CLVS).

How are hedge funds trading Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:CLVS)?

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 29 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of 21% from one quarter earlier. On the other hand, there were a total of 39 hedge funds with a bullish position in CLVS a year ago. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

No of Hedge Funds with CLVS Positions

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, William Leland Edwards’s Palo Alto Investors has the biggest position in Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:CLVS), worth close to $130 million, comprising 5.4% of its total 13F portfolio. On Palo Alto Investors’s heels is Redmile Group, managed by Jeremy Green, which holds a $113.3 million position; the fund has 3.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other members of the smart money with similar optimism encompass Samuel Isaly’s OrbiMed Advisors, Steven Boyd’s Armistice Capital and Stephen DuBois’s Camber Capital Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Healthcor Management LP, managed by Arthur B Cohen and Joseph Healey, initiated the most valuable position in Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:CLVS). Healthcor Management LP had $34.7 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Dan Kamensky’s Marble Ridge Capital also made a $15.8 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new CLVS positions are Kenneth Tropin’s Graham Capital Management, Christopher James’s Partner Fund Management, and James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:CLVS). These stocks are Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc (NYSE:FDP), Getty Realty Corp. (NYSE:GTY), MGP Ingredients Inc (NASDAQ:MGPI), and Gulfport Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:GPOR). This group of stocks’ market valuations match CLVS’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
FDP 14 43087 -1
GTY 9 89875 1
MGPI 13 24351 5
GPOR 23 141764 1
Average 14.75 74769 1.5

View table here if you experience formatting issues.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 14.75 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $75 million. That figure was $567 million in CLVS’s case. Gulfport Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:GPOR) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Getty Realty Corp. (NYSE:GTY) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Clovis Oncology Inc (NASDAQ:CLVS) is more popular among hedge funds. Our calculations showed that top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 1.9% in Q2 through May 30th and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by more than 3 percentage points. Unfortunately CLVS wasn’t nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on CLVS were disappointed as the stock returned -39.5% during the same period and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds as 13 of these stocks already outperformed the market in Q2.

Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.