Should You Buy Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PGNX)?

Is Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX) a worthy investment now? Prominent investors are taking an optimistic view. The number of bullish hedge fund bets inched up by 1 lately.

Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX)In the eyes of most market participants, hedge funds are viewed as slow, outdated investment tools of the past. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, we choose to focus on the crème de la crème of this club, about 450 funds. It is estimated that this group controls the majority of all hedge funds’ total asset base, and by paying attention to their top investments, we have discovered a number of investment strategies that have historically beaten the S&P 500 index. Our small-cap hedge fund strategy outstripped the S&P 500 index by 18 percentage points annually for a decade in our back tests, and since we’ve started sharing our picks with our subscribers at the end of August 2012, we have outpaced the S&P 500 index by 23.3 percentage points in 8 months (check out a sample of our picks).

Equally as integral, positive insider trading activity is another way to parse down the financial markets. Obviously, there are a number of motivations for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Several empirical studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a glance at the latest action surrounding Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX).

How are hedge funds trading Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 11% from the first quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully.

Of the funds we track, Kevin Kotler’s Broadfin Capital had the biggest position in Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX), worth close to $15.1 million, accounting for 3.3% of its total 13F portfolio. On Broadfin Capital’s heels is Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment Corp, with a $12.6 million position; 0.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Other hedgies that hold long positions include James Dondero’s Highland Capital Management, James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management and Julian Baker and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors.

Consequently, key hedge funds have been driving this bullishness. Highland Capital Management, managed by James Dondero, created the biggest position in Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX). Highland Capital Management had 11.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Frank Brosens’s Taconic Capital also made a $4.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX)?

Insider buying is particularly usable when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGNX) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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