Is Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) a Good Stock to Buy?

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, initiated the most valuable call position in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). Citadel Investment Group had $125.8 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Matt Sirovich and Jeremy Mindich’s Scopia Capital also initiated a $49.3 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new NFLX investors: George Soros’ Soros Fund Management, David E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, and Kamyar Khajavi’s MIK Capital.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Grp, Inc. (ADR) (NYSE:SMFG), Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (ETF) (NASDAQ:QQQ), and Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW). This group of stocks’ market values resemble NFLX’s market value.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 31 funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $989 million, significantly lower than the $3.71 billion in NFLX’s case. Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Grp, Inc. (ADR) (NYSE:SMFG) is the least popular one with only 10 bullish hedge fund positions. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) 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, Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.