Is CTI BioPharma Corp (CTIC) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

Judging by the fact that CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC) has witnessed a falling interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers that slashed their positions entirely by the end of the third quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Vishal Bhutani and Joshua Bederman’s Pyrrho Capital Management sold off the biggest investment of the 700 funds monitored by Insider Monkey, worth close to $1.2 million in stock. Renaissance Technologies also dropped its stock, about $1.1 million worth of shares. These moves are intriguing to say the least, as total hedge fund interest fell 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 Cell Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CTIC) but similarly valued. These stocks are Corenergy Infrastructure Trust Inc (NYSE:CORR), Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI), Pacific Drilling SA (NYSE:PACD), and Antares Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:ATRS). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC)’s market cap.

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 $34 million. That figure was $17 million in CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC)’s case. Antares Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:ATRS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. CTI BioPharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC) 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, Antares Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:ATRS) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.