Does International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) Deal Signal That It’s Time To Buy Box Inc (BOX)?

Insider Monkey follows hedge fund activity regarding companies like Box Inc (NYSE:BOX) to gauge whether the world’s best money managers see strength in these companies. Some may be of the opinion that hedge fund activity tracking may be a futile exercise, as they equate disappointing hedge fund returns in recent years to poor investment choices made by these money managers. This is not actually the case. Hedge funds have underperformed the market for several reasons which don’t actually have anything to do with stock picking, but rather with the composition of their investments. Insider activity meanwhile is just as important, as research studies have proven the efficacy of piggybacking insider purchases.

To the latter point, we see that there has yet to be any insider trading activity at Box.

Taking into account all of this, let’s see how hedge funds have been trading Box Inc (NYSE:BOX) since its January IPO.

Hedge fund activity in Box Inc (NYSE:BOX)

There were eight hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey which reported long positions in Box Inc (NYSE:BOX) by the end of the first quarter. The total value of their collective holdings amounted to $50.76 million, a relatively small amount and in our experience, not at all a bullish signal.

When looking at the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, Philippe Laffont‘s Coatue Management had the most valuable position in Box Inc (NYSE:BOX), worth close to $24.6 million, amounting to 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio and amounting to nearly 10% of the company’s common shares. Sitting in the number 2 spot is Brookside Capital, managed by Bain Capital, which held a $13.9 million position; the fund has 0.3% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Balyasny Asset Management, SeaStone Capital Management, and OZ Management.

As much as Box Inc (NYSE:BOX) was beloved by angel investors, betting on the company’s shares does not seem to be a good bet at the moment, even following the partnership with IBM.

Disclosure: None