Is Prothena Corporation PLC (PRTA) Going to Burn These Hedge Funds?

As aggregate interest increased, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Point State Capital, led by Zach Schreiber, established the largest position in Prothena Corporation PLC (NASDAQ:PRTA). Point State Capital had $21 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Principal Global Investors’ Columbus Circle Investors also initiated a $7.9 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new PRTA investors: Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, James A. Silverman’s Opaleye Management, and Hal Mintz’s Sabby Capital.

Let’s go over hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Prothena Corporation PLC (NASDAQ:PRTA). These stocks are Depomed Inc (NASDAQ:DEPO), EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS), Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc (NASDAQ:PLKI), and M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to PRTA’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 18 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $203 million. That figure was $786 million in PRTA’s case. EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MDC) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Prothena Corporation PLC (NASDAQ:PRTA) 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 EXAS might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None