Hedge Funds Are Hoarding Shares of These 5 Mid-caps

#3 Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK)

 – Investors with Long Positions (as of December 31): 34

 – Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of December 31): $3.95 billion

 – Percentage of Common Stock Owned by Investors (as of December 31): 28.8%

Amid a 38% rise in Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK)’s stock during the fourth quarter, its ownership among the funds in our system increased by two, while the aggregate value of their holdings in it swelled by over 90%. Scott Ferguson‘s Sachem Head Capital and Stephen Mandel‘s Lone Pine Capital each initiated a stake in the company during that period, purchasing nearly 12.9 million shares and 5.73 million shares, respectively. Those shares of Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) have recouped some of the losses they suffered earlier in the year, thanks to the company reporting better-than-expected fourth quarter results on February 25, however they still trade down by 8.5% year-to-date.  While the Street had expected the company to report EPS of $0.11 on revenue of $631.10 million for the quarter, Autodesk, Inc. reported EPS of $0.21 on revenue of $648 million. On March 12, analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating on the stock.

#2 TransDigm Group Incorporated (NYSE:TDG)

 – Investors with Long Positions (as of December 31): 55

 – Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of December 31): $4.09 billion

 – Percentage of Common Stock Owned by Investors (as of December 31): 33.40%

Moving on, aircraft component supplier TransDigm Group Incorporated (NYSE:TDG) was in the portfolios of 55 hedge funds in our system on December 31, up by four quarter-over-quarter. Shares of TransDigm Group Incorporated (NYSE:TDG) slumped hard after it reported dismal fiscal year 2016 first quarter numbers in early-February, but have recovered since then and now trade down by only 3.46% year-to-date. Following the earnings release, several analysts lowered their price targets on the stock. Among them were analysts at Goldman Sachs who lowered their price target to $256 from $272. Analysts are concerned that the company is betting big on acquisitions for growth instead of focusing on organic growth and that in that process it has lowered its M&A standards, with its recent acquisition of Breeze-Eastern Corporation being a case in point. Alan Fournier‘s Pennant Capital Management cut its holding in the company by 26% to 878,736 shares during the fourth quarter.

#1 FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT)

 – Investors with Long Positions (as of December 31): 51

 – Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of December 31): $4.82 billion

 – Percentage of Common Stock Owned by Investors (as of December 31): 36.60%

FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT) shares went nowhere during the fourth quarter, as did its ownership among the funds that we track, which inched down by one during the period. Nonetheless, FleetCor ended up topping our list as the mid-cap stock with the highest percentage of its shares being owned by investors in our database. With ownership of over 6.4 million shares of the company, Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital helped contribute greatly to that ownership total. On March 15, FleetCor Technologies, Inc. announced that it has agreed to acquire Brazilian electronic toll payment company STP for $1.05 billion. The 14 prominent analysts and research houses that cover FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT)’s stock currently have an average rating of ‘Overweight’ and an average price target of $149.67 on it, which represents a potential upside of 6.6% from the stock’s current trading price.

Disclosure: None