Top Investors’ Stock Portfolio: 5 Mid-Cap Stocks To Buy

3. Anaplan, Inc. (NYSE:PLAN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52
Market Cap: $8.72 billion 

Anaplan, Inc. (NYSE:PLAN) stands third on our list of the top mid-cap stocks to buy. It is an American technology company that sells subscriptions for cloud-based software used across all lines of business and business activities. 

In September, Barclays lifted its price target on Anaplan, Inc. (NYSE:PLAN) to $84, while maintaining an ‘Overweight’ rating on the shares. The firm’s analyst Raimo Lenschow expects the company to benefit from the growing software businesses, as it marked its fifth consecutive quarter of improving billings growth. In Q2 2021, Anaplan, Inc. (NYSE:PLAN) posted an EPS of -$0.09, beating the estimates by $0.04. The company’s subscription revenue presented a 34.6% growth from the prior-year quarter.

As of Q2 2021, 52 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey have positions in Anaplan, Inc. (NYSE:PLAN), compared with 55 in the previous quarter. These stakes are valued at $2.1 billion. Daniel Och’s OZ Management is the company’s leading shareholder with over 4 million shares. 

Alger mentioned Anaplan, Inc. (NYSE:PLAN) in its Q1 2021 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say: 

“Anaplan, Inc. was among the top detractors from performance. Anaplan is a leading provider of cloud-based business planning software. Anaplan’s software platform aims to solve the most complex planning needs of large global enterprises across various business lines. Unlike traditional business planning software, which is often rigid, siloed and opaque, Anaplan’s platform is designed to enable broader enterprise participation and better workforce collaboration during the business planning process. Through better planning, large enterprises can more effectively allocate resources to cut costs and generate revenue. Today Anaplan has over 1,600 customers across a variety of end markets and business use cases.

Anaplan shares underperformed in the first quarter as part of a broader sector rotation as high-growth software stocks fell out of favor relative to more cyclically exposed investment opportunities. We believe Anaplan’s focus on growth over near-term profit generation negatively impacts the company’s stock in a rising interest rate environment.

Fundamentally, Anaplan had strong fourth quarter earnings result, with the company seeing an acceleration of billings growth and a strong demand pipeline as companies realize the need for a more flexible digital planning solution.”