Why Polycom Inc (PLCM)’s Stock Has Rallied Today?

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Paul Singer’s Elliott Management has the number one position in Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM), worth close to $98.7 million, amounting to 1% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by George Soros’ Soros Fund Management, which holds a $91.1 million position; 2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other members of the smart money that hold long positions include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, David E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

As aggregate interest increased, some big names were breaking ground themselves. Water Island Capital, managed by John Orrico, created the most valuable position in Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM). Water Island Capital had $3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Marc Majzner’s Clearline Capital also made a $2.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new PLCM positions are Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp, Michael Platt and William Reeves’s BlueCrest Capital Mgmt., and Gavin Saitowitz and Cisco J. del Valle’s Springbok Capital.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM) but similarly valued. These stocks are Ophthotech Corp (NASDAQ:OPHT), AAON, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAON), Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (NASDAQ:COKE), and Franklin Electric Co. (NASDAQ:FELE). This group of stocks’ market caps are closest to PLCM’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 14 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $137 million. That figure was $330 million in PLCM’s case. Ophthotech Corp (NASDAQ:OPHT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (NASDAQ:COKE) is the least popular one with only 6 bullish hedge fund positions. Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM) 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 OPHT might be a better candidate to consider a long position.

Disclosure: None