Hedge Funds Keep Buying Veeva Systems Inc (VEEV)

The SEC requires hedge funds and wealthy investors with over a certain portfolio size to file a report that shows their positions at the end of every quarter. Even though it isn’t the intention, these filings level the playing field for ordinary investors. The latest round of 13F filings discloses the funds’ positions on September 30. We at Insider Monkey have compiled an extensive database of more than 700 of those elite funds and prominent investors’ filings. In this article, we analyze how these elite funds and prominent investors traded Veeva Systems Inc (NYSE:VEEV) based on those filings.

Is Veeva Systems Inc (NYSE:VEEV) a good investment today? Money managers are taking a bullish view. The number of bullish hedge fund bets went up by 2 recently. At the end of this article we will also compare VEEV to other stocks including Erie Indemnity Company (NASDAQ:ERIE), Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc (NASDAQ:BUFF), and Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) to get a better sense of its popularity.

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What does the smart money think about Veeva Systems Inc (NYSE:VEEV)?

Heading into the fourth quarter of 2016, a total of 23 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a 10% rise from the previous quarter, after a 63% rise in Q2. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

HedgeFundSentimentChart

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies has the most valuable position in Veeva Systems Inc (NYSE:VEEV), worth close to $87.8 million. The second largest stake is held by Ryan Frick and Oliver Evans of Dorsal Capital Management, with a $51.6 million position; the fund has 3.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedge funds and institutional investors that are bullish comprise John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital and Matthew Iorio’s White Elm Capital.

With general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, some big names have been driving this bullishness. White Elm Capital, managed by Matthew Iorio, created the largest position in Veeva Systems Inc (NYSE:VEEV). White Elm Capital had $11.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. D E Shaw also made an $11.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new VEEV investors: Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Louis Navellier’s Navellier & Associates, and Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Veeva Systems Inc (NYSE:VEEV). These stocks are Erie Indemnity Company (NASDAQ:ERIE), Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc (NASDAQ:BUFF), Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI), and Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to VEEV’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
ERIE 9 61054 -1
BUFF 28 309153 2
DCI 12 130412 0
EQY 10 92783 -8

As you can see these stocks had an average of 15 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $148 million. That figure was $254 million in VEEV’s case. Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc (NASDAQ:BUFF) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Erie Indemnity Company (NASDAQ:ERIE) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Veeva Systems Inc (NYSE:VEEV) 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. In this regard BUFF might be a better candidate to consider for a long position.

Disclosure: None