Is Pacific Biosciences of California (PACB) a Good Stock to Buy?

Because Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) has faced bearish sentiment from the smart money, it’s easy to see that there was a specific group of hedgies that decided to sell off their full holdings by the end of the third quarter. Interestingly, Mitchell Blutt’s Consonance Capital Management dumped the largest stake of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, worth about $7.8 million in stock. Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider’s fund, SG Capital Management, also dumped its stock, about $1.9 million worth.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:MACK), iKang Healthcare Group Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:KANG), Foundation Medicine Inc (NASDAQ:FMI), and Independent Bank Group Inc (NASDAQ:IBTX). This group of stocks’ market valuations match PACB’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 11 funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $50 million, which is lower than the $197 million figure in PACB’s case. Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:MACK) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Independent Bank Group Inc (NASDAQ:IBTX) is the least popular one with only nine funds having reported long positions. Compared to these stocks Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.

Disclosure: None