Do Hedge Funds Love Synopsys, Inc. (SNPS)?

With the third-quarter round of 13F filings behind us it is time to take a look at the stocks in which some of the best money managers in the world preferred to invest or sell heading into the fourth quarter. One of these stocks was Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS).

Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) was in 21 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. SNPS investors should pay attention to an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late. There were 19 hedge funds in our database with SNPS holdings at the end of the previous quarter. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (ADR) (NYSE:MBT), China Southern Airlines Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ZNH), and ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD) to gather more data points.

To the average investor there are a multitude of tools investors can use to value publicly traded companies. Two of the most underrated tools are hedge fund and insider trading moves. Our experts have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can outperform their index-focused peers by a solid amount (see the details here).

With all of this in mind, we’re going to check out the key action surrounding Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS).

What have hedge funds been doing with Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS)?

At Q3’s end, a total of 21 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 11% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings substantially (or already accumulated large positions).

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Alkeon Capital Management, managed by Panayotis Takis Sparaggis, holds the biggest position in Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS). Alkeon Capital Management has a $153.5 million position in the stock, comprising 3.2% of its 13F portfolio. On Alkeon Capital Management’s heels is AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, which holds a $54.4 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other professional money managers that hold long positions contain Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management, Lee Munder’s Lee Munder Capital Group and Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management.

Consequently, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Highbridge Capital Management, managed by Glenn Russell Dubin, created the largest position in Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS). Highbridge Capital Management had $8.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also made a $4 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital, Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) but similarly valued. These stocks are Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (ADR) (NYSE:MBT), China Southern Airlines Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ZNH), ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD), and Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to SNPS’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 13.25 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $153 million. That figure was $280 million in SNPS’s case. Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand China Southern Airlines Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:ZNH) is the least popular one with only 4 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.