Two Biotech Stocks Have Been Ignoring the Crowd Today and This Metric Says They are Poised to Grow Even Further

Let’s now turn our attention to Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNAT), which released positive results from a recent study earlier this morning. Precisely, the biotechnology company announced that its exploratory Phase II Portal Hypertension (PH) clinical trial of emricasan, which is a first-in-class, orally active pan-caspase inhibitor, met its primary endpoints. For those interested in what emricasan is up to, the drug is aimed at lowering high portal pressures, which may eventually diminish the risk of hepatic decompensation in liver cirrhosis patients over a short-term spectrum. Additionally, emricasan is believed to enhance liver function and structure over a longer-term spectrum via anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects. The stock of Conatus has also gradually diminished to slightly over 3% in green. The stock has been gaining ground during the previous trading sessions of this week as well, fueled, among other things, by HC Wainwright initiating coverage on the stock with a “Buy” rating and a $15 price target on Tuesday (read more details here).

Hedge funds’ sentiment towards Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CNAT) was positive during the second quarter, as the number of investors with positions in the stock increased to nine from six, while the value of their investments in the biotech stock surged to $12.22 million from only $2.3 million. Despite the relatively small number of bullish investors, they still amassed 12% of the company’s outstanding common stock at the end of June. Hal Mintz’s Sabby Capital and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group are two of the nine funds with stakes in Conatus Pharmaceutical, owning 373,500 shares and 284,200 shares as of June 30.

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