Should You Follow Hedge Fund Sentiment Of Wednesday’s Top 3 Healthcare Gainers?

Akebia Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AKBA)‘s growth of over 40% today is also impressive, as well as the volume of over 13 million shares, compared to a daily average of just 336,400 shares. The gains on Wednesday have offset some of the stock’s year-to-date losses, although it still trades around 33% in the red since the beginning of the year. Similar to Vitae Pharmaceuticals, Akebia Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AKBA)’s stock jumped on the back of positive top line results from its Phase 2 trial of vadadustat in patients with anemia related to chronic kidney disease. Nevertheless, hedge funds are not very thrilled regarding the company, which is not surprising, taking into account its long-term returns. At the end of June, the number of funds with long positions amounted to seven, while the total value of their holdings stood at $18.68 million, representing slightly above 6% of the company’s outstanding stock. These figures improved from five funds holding $16.12 million worth of stock in aggregate at the end of March, but they are not enough to justify a bullish outlook on Akebia Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:AKBA). Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies initiated a stake in Akebia during the second quarter, disclosing ownership of 381,200 shares in its latest 13F filing.

With this in mind, despite today’s gains, the hedge fund sentiment is bleak for Vitae and Akebia, which suggests that both companies don’t represent good long-term investment opportunities, although things might change after the latest developments.

Disclosure: None