Before we spend countless hours researching a company, we like to analyze what insiders, hedge funds and billionaire investors think of the stock first. This is a necessary first step in our investment process because our research has shown that the elite investors' consensus returns have been exceptional. In the following paragraphs, we find out what the billionaire investors and hedge funds think of CryoPort, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYRX).
Is CryoPort, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYRX) a bargain? The best stock pickers are taking a bearish view. The number of long hedge fund bets dropped by 1 in recent months. Our calculations also showed that CYRX isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q3 rankings and see the video below for Q2 rankings). CYRX was in 10 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2019. There were 11 hedge funds in our database with CYRX positions at the end of the previous quarter.
5 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds
Video: Click the image to watch our video about the top 5 most popular hedge fund stocks.
In the financial world there are a large number of signals stock traders can use to evaluate stocks. Two of the best signals are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. Our researchers have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can outclass the market by a significant margin (see the details here).
We leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example Europe is set to become the world's largest cannabis market, so we check out this European marijuana stock pitch. One of the most bullish analysts in America just put his money where his mouth is. He says, "I'm investing more today than I did back in early 2009." So we check out his pitch. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. We also rely on the best performing hedge funds' buy/sell signals. Let's take a look at the new hedge fund action regarding CryoPort, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYRX).
How are hedge funds trading CryoPort, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYRX)?
Heading into the fourth quarter of 2019, a total of 10 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on this stock, a change of -9% from one quarter earlier. Below, you can check out the change in hedge fund sentiment towards CYRX over the last 17 quarters. So, let's find out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.
Is CYRX A Good Stock To Buy?
More specifically, Columbus Circle Investors was the largest shareholder of CryoPort, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYRX), with a stake worth $5.8 million reported as of the end of September. Trailing Columbus Circle Investors was Citadel Investment Group, which amassed a stake valued at $4.8 million. Royce & Associates, D E Shaw, and SG Capital Management were also very fond of the stock, becoming one of the largest hedge fund holders of the company. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position SG Capital Management allocated the biggest weight to CryoPort, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYRX), around 0.77% of its 13F portfolio. Columbus Circle Investors is also relatively very bullish on the stock, designating 0.21 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to CYRX.
Because CryoPort, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYRX) has faced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, we can see that there exists a select few funds who were dropping their entire stakes in the third quarter. Interestingly, Anand Parekh's Alyeska Investment Group sold off the largest stake of all the hedgies tracked by Insider Monkey, totaling close to $0.5 million in stock, and Louis Bacon's Moore Global Investments was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $0.4 million worth. These bearish behaviors are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by 1 funds in the third quarter.
Let's also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks - not necessarily in the same industry as CryoPort, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYRX) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Hanmi Financial Corp (NASDAQ:HAFC), Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UCTT), First Mid-Illinois Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMBH), and Tucows Inc. (NYSE:TCX). This group of stocks' market values resemble CYRX's market value.
[table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position HAFC,9,31387,1 UCTT,13,65196,2 FMBH,5,11001,2 TCX,6,37855,-2 Average,8.25,36360,0.75 [/table]
As you can see these stocks had an average of 8.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $36 million. That figure was $28 million in CYRX's case. Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UCTT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand First Mid-Illinois Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMBH) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. CryoPort, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYRX) is not the most popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still above average. This is a slightly positive signal but we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed that top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 37.4% in 2019 through the end of November and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 9.9 percentage points. Unfortunately CYRX wasn't nearly as popular as these 20 stocks and hedge funds that were betting on CYRX were disappointed as the stock returned -3.7% during the fourth quarter (through the end of November) and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 20 most popular stocks among hedge funds as many of these stocks already outperformed the market so far this year.
Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey.
