DA Davidson Initiates Positive Coverage On Ixia (XXIA), Shares Jump: Should You Buy It?

How have hedgies been trading Ixia (NASDAQ:XXIA)?

At the end of Q1, the number of hedge fund positions in the stock went up by 40% when compared to the end of 2014. Many hedge fund managers increased their position substantially in the stock. Eric Bannasch‘s Cadian Capital holds the largest position in Ixia with shares worth $21.5 million. Ixia also accounts for 0.6% of Cadian Capital’s 13F portfolio. Following Cadian Capital is North Run Capital led by Thomas Ellis and Todd Hammer. North Run Capital’s holding in Ixia is worth $17 million and accounts for 1.9% of its 13F portfolio. Other hedge funds with a bullish outlook on the stock include Lee Munder’s Lee Munder Capital Group, Clint Carlson‘s Carlson Capital and Israel Englander‘s Millennium Management.

When there is a strongly positive hedge fund sentiment on a stock, one would expect a lot of hedge funds to initiate a position in the stock. Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital initiated its position in Ixia’s stock with a $9.7 million investment in the first quarter. The next big new investment in the stock was by Peter Muller’s PDT Partners with an investment of $1 million in the stock. Other hedge funds with new positions in the stock includes Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management, Joseph A. Jolson’s Harvest Capital Strategies, and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

Despite the fact that inside sentiment has been negative on the Ixia stock, the strong performance of the stock since the beginning of the year and the strongly positive hedge fund and analyst sentiment makes us believe that this stock should be bought. We recommend to buy this stock.

Disclosure: None