Hedge Funds Buying Into the Cloud

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Top hedge funds were hot on the cloud at the end of 2011, investing in companies like Amazon(AMZN) , Salesforce(CRM) and Rackspace(RAX) that let computers access information from remote servers.

It's little wonder why, as these companies will stand to benefit from a market expected to top $42 billion this year, according to research firm IDC.

Star hedge fund managers like Steven Cohen of SAC Capital and James Simons of Renaissance Technologies added to their positions in tech giants offering cloud computing services during the fourth quarter, according to 13F filings for the period ending Dec. 31, 2011.

Here's a roundup of high-profile hedge fund managers who looked to increase their positions in the cloud last year.

Amazon

John Thaler, JAT Capital Management-- The $3 billion global long-short hedge fund started a new position in Amazon during the fourth quarter by buying 531,503 shares.

Phil Gross, Adage Capital Management-- Adage added 23,072 shares during the quarter to bring its total to 498,710 shares.

Ken Griffin, Citadel Advisors-- The Chicago-based hedge fund added 38,397 shares to its position to end the year with 360,968 shares.

Salesforce

Takis Sparaggis, Alkeon Capital Management-- The $2.5 billion fund is the third largest hedge fund holder of Salesforce. It added 235,991 shares during the fourth quarter to bring its total to 617,238 shares.

Ranjan Tandon, Libra Advisors-- The New York hedge fund started a new position during the quarter with 188,900 shares.

Steven Cohen, SAC Advisors-- Cohen's Stanford, Conn.-based firm added 80,325 shares to its position in the cloud computing company to bring its total to 115,549 shares.

Rackspace

Richard Driehaus, Driehaus Capital Management-- The Chicago hedge fund added 147,392 shares to its position. It now holds 515,438 shares.

James Dondero, Highland Capital Management-- The $23 billion fund started a new position in Rackspace with 275,344 shares.