Is La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (LJPC) A Good Stock To Buy?

As aggregate interest increased, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Iguana Healthcare Management, managed by Stuart Weisbrod, assembled the most outsized position in La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (NASDAQ:LJPC). Iguana Healthcare Management had $3.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Hal Mintz’s Sabby Capital also initiated a $2.4 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management, and Renaissance Technologies.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (NASDAQ:LJPC) but similarly valued. These stocks are C&J Energy Services Inc (NYSE:CJES), Century Communities, Inc (NYSE:CCS), Patriot National Inc (NYSE:PN), and Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAST). This group of stocks’ market valuations match La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (NASDAQ:LJPC)’s market valuation.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 17 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $73 million. That figure was $193 million in La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (NASDAQ:LJPC)’s case. Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAST) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Patriot National Inc (NYSE:PN) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (NASDAQ:LJPC) 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, Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAST) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.