PAREXEL International Corporation (PRXL): Are Hedge Funds Right About This Stock?

As aggregate interest increased, key hedge funds were leading the bulls’ herd. Balyasny Asset Management, led by Dmitry Balyasny, established the most valuable position in PAREXEL International Corporation (NASDAQ:PRXL). Balyasny Asset Management had $6.6 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management also initiated a $4.5 million position during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Paul Marshall and Ian Wace’s Marshall Wace LLP, Neil Chriss’ Hutchin Hill Capital, and Glenn W. Welling’s Engaged Capital.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as PAREXEL International Corporation (NASDAQ:PRXL) but similarly valued. These stocks are Acacia Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIA), Trinity Industries, Inc. (NYSE:TRN), The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN), and Crane Co. (NYSE:CR). All of these stocks’ market caps are similar to PRXL’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 22 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $322 million. That figure was $303 million in PRXL’s case. The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Acacia Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIA) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. PAREXEL International Corporation (NASDAQ:PRXL) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard HAIN might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: None