Det er altid interessant at se, hvad milliardærinvestorer gør med deres penge. Selvfølgelig kan du ikke matche deres gevinster ved blot at kopiere hver enkelt af deres aktievalg, men det kan stadig være nyttigt (og frugtbart) at vide, hvad de har været ude for.
Overvej, at milliardærerne, hedgefondene og de store rådgivere, der er anført nedenfor, har meget på spil. Og deres ressourcer til forskning, såvel som deres intime forbindelser til insidere og andre, kan give dem enestående indsigt i deres aktievalg.
At studere, hvilke aktier de jagter med deres kapital (eller hvilke aktier milliardærerne sælger fra, for den sags skyld), kan være en opbyggelig øvelse for detailinvestorer.
Der er trods alt en grund til, at de rige bliver rigere.
Her er 50 af de seneste topaktievalg fra milliardærklassen. I hvert tilfælde har mindst én milliardær – hvad enten det er en person, hedgefond eller rådgivende – en betydelig andel og/eller tilføjet til sine beholdninger. I de fleste tilfælde ejes disse aktier af flere milliardærinvestorer og milliardærinvestorfirmaer. Og mens flere af disse investeringer er populære blue chips, holder andre en meget lavere profil.
Uanset hvad, er de smarte penge ikke sjove, når det kommer til disse aktier.
Når det kommer til Cisco Systems (CSCO, $44,11), Generation Investment Management fjoller ikke rundt. Den London-baserede rådgivning – som var medstiftet af tidligere vicepræsident Al Gore, som i øjeblikket stadig fungerer som formand – startede en ny stilling ved at købe mere end 18 millioner aktier i CSCO i løbet af tredje kvartal.
Positionen tegner sig nu for 3,9 % af virksomhedens 18,8 milliarder dollars i administrerede værdipapirer, hvilket placerer den lige uden for dets top 10 aktievalg.
Selvom teknologikonglomeratets aktie ofte har været efterslæbt på markedet i løbet af de sidste fem år, har det indtil videre et stærkt 4. kvartal. Siden begyndelsen af oktober er CSCO-aktierne steget 12 % til S&P 500's 9 %.
Analytikere forventer, at virksomheden vil generere en gennemsnitlig årlig indtjeningsvækst på 6,7% over de næste tre til fem år, ifølge S&P Global Market Intelligence. Deres gennemsnitlige anbefaling er Køb.
Hvis du er en investor, der leder efter slået aktievalg, skal du ikke lede længere end til flysektoren. Trods alt knuste den globale pandemi flyrejser.
PAR Capital Management, en Boston-baseret rådgivning, ser værdi i denne krog af markedet. Firmaet tilføjede ikke kun flere stillinger i flyselskaber, herunder Delta Air Lines (DAL, $42,95), Southwest Airlines (LUV) og United Airlines (UAL), men det har også mere end tredoblet sin position på rejsesiden TripAdvisor (TRIP).
Med hensyn til Delta Air Lines foretog PAR Capital Management en trinvis tilføjelse til sine DAL-beholdninger og tilføjede 9.450 aktier for at bringe dens samlede til mere end 3,5 mio. Det er godt for en top-10-position på omkring 4,1 % af aktiverne.
Alt i alt ser det ud til, at PAR satser på et stort opsving for sektoren, når pandemien er væk engang næste år.
Den mest kendte investor i Barrick Gold (GULD, $23,61) i øjeblikket er sandsynligvis Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway. Oracle of Omaha indledte en position i guld- og kobberminevirksomheden i andet kvartal af 2020 og købte 20.918.701 aktier til en værdi af $563,6 millioner.
Flytningen fik Buffett-tilskuere til at klø sig i hovedet. Når alt kommer til alt, er Warren Buffett det, der er længst væk fra en guldbug. Hvorom alting er, i det mindste producerer minearbejdere cash flow. I tilfældet Barrick betaler det endda et lille udbytte.
På trods af, hvad navnet kunne indikere, er Sydney, Australien-baserede hedgefond Platinum Investment Management (AUM $16,2 milliarder) heller ikke ligefrem stor på råvarer. Men de allokerer en bemærkelsesværdig del af deres portefølje (4,2%) til Barrick Gold.
Platinum Investment, som har ejet aktier i GOLD siden 2012, hævede sin ejerandel med 81 % eller 2,7 millioner aktier i 3. kvartal. Før den seneste investering tegnede Barrick sig for kun 2 % af sin samlede porteføljeværdi.
Johnson &Johnson (JNJ, $149,00) opererer i flere forskellige segmenter af sundhedssektoren. Ud over lægemidler fremstiller den håndkøbsprodukter som for eksempel Band-Aids, Neosporin og Listerine. Det fremstiller også medicinsk udstyr, der bruges til kirurgi.
Aktien har ikke gjort meget i år, men langsigtede indkomstinvestorer ved, hvor værdifuld den kan være. Denne Dow-komponent er en trofast udbyttedyrker, der har øget sin udbetaling i 58 år i træk.
Levin Capital Strategies (AUM $1,3 milliarder), en New York-baseret hedgefond, er tilhænger af JNJ. Fonden hævede sin ejerandel i sundhedsgiganten med kun 1 % i 3. kvartal, men den tegner sig for 5 % af en meget diversificeret portefølje, hvilket gør den til den tredjestørste blandt sine bedste aktievalg. Levins topbeholdning, Microsoft (MSFT), hævder 6,5 % af den samlede porteføljeværdi.
Levin har holdt fast i JNJ gennem gode og dårlige tider, idet han først købte aktier helt tilbage i 2006.
IQVIA Holdings (IQV, $167,63), tidligere kendt som Quintiles og IMS Health, bringer teknologiske løsninger på sundhedsproblemer. Det hjælper biovidenskab, lægemiddeludvikling og endda plejeudbydere med at indsamle og analysere data og derefter bruge disse data til at bringe nye produkter på markedet.
Bain Capital – private equity-selskabet grundlagt af den nuværende senator og engangspræsidentkandidat Mitt Romney – plejede at være en af virksomhedens største aktionærer, men det har skåret ned i sin stilling i nogen tid.
En stor investor, der dog fylder op, er HealthCor Management (AUM $4,4 milliarder), som er specialiseret i sundhedsaktier. New York hedgefond løftede sin ejerandel med 54 % i 3. kvartal og tilføjede 295.950 aktier. Investeringen tegner sig nu for 5,3 % af virksomhedens samlede porteføljeværdi, op fra 3,2 % i 2. kvartal.
IQV er virksomhedens sjettestørste position.
Capital Wealth Planning, et stort rådgivningsfirma med AUM på $1,8 milliarder, opretholder en diversificeret portefølje af blue-chip aktier og andre stensolide varemærker, som de fleste investorer vil genkende. Faktisk er det Napoli, Florida-baserede firmas top 10-beholdninger alle medlemmer af Dow Jones Industrial Average, ledet af Nike (NKE) med 6,1 % og McDonald's (MCD, 211,51 USD) ved 5,4%.
Diversificeringen skal hjælpe kunderne med at sove bedre om natten. Med den største enkeltposition, der kun tegner sig for 6 % af porteføljen, vil et eller to dårlige væddemål ikke synke denne liste af aktievalg.
Capital Wealth Planning var optimistisk på sine største indsatser i tredje kvartal og tilføjede til ni af sine 10 største positioner, inklusive MCD, som er dens næststørste beholdning. Advisory øgede sin beholdning i den globale hamburger flipper med 6 % i 3. kvartal efter at have købt 29.163 aktier.
Soma Equity Partners (2,6 milliarder USD) øgede sin andel i PayPal Holdings (PYPL, $214,54) med 100.000 aktier eller 13 % i 3. kvartal, og det er på ingen måde en nykommer til navnet. Den San Francisco-baserede hedgefond har ejet aktier i betalingsselskabet siden 2016.
Det har været en klog investering. PayPal har stået i stykker siden udskillelsen af eBay (EBAY) i 2015. Aktierne er steget mere end 480 %, siden det blev et separat børsnoteret selskab. For sammenligningens skyld steg S&P 500 77 % over samme tidsramme, og eBay gav kun 93 %.
PYPL tegner sig for 5,4% af hedgefondens samlede porteføljeværdi for at gøre den til en af Somas top 10 aktievalg. The Street er bestemt enig i Somas synspunkt. Analytikernes gennemsnitlige anbefaling om navnet står på Køb, til dels fordi det forventes at generere en gennemsnitlig årlig indtjeningsvækst på næsten 22 %, ifølge S&P Global Market Intelligence.
T-Mobile USA (TMUS, $131,19) fik lidt nyt liv, da det fusionerede med Sprint sidste forår. Mens T-Mobile og Sprint ikke kunne håbe på at indhente individuelt indhentning i den brutalt konkurrenceprægede industri for trådløse tjenester, repræsenterer det kombinerede selskab en sand nr. 3 konkurrent til de forankrede giganter Verizon (VZ) og AT&T (T).
Og Egerton Capital (AUM $20,2 milliarder) er en bemærkelsesværdig investor, der kan lide T-Mobiles chancer, nu hvor det er blevet styrket. Den London-baserede hedgefond begyndte først at opbygge en position i TMUS i andet kvartal, hvor T-Mobile-Sprint-fusionen lukkede. I det seneste kvartal øgede fonden sin ejerandel med 83 % eller 3,5 millioner aktier.
T-Mobile er nu fondens tredjestørste beholdning med 5,4 % af den samlede porteføljeværdi, op fra 3,3 % i det foregående kvartal. TMUS-aktien er steget med 30 % i løbet af de seneste seks måneder, og analytikernes konsensusanbefaling forbliver på Køb.
Wall Street er meget bullish på Danaher (DHR, $223,34). Blandt de 21 analytikere, der dækker virksomheden inden for biovidenskab, diagnostik og miljøløsninger, kalder 14 det et stærkt køb og yderligere fire kalder det et køb. Det er godt for en konsensuskøbsanbefaling, ifølge S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Det er godt nok til at placere det blandt de bedste sundhedsaktier i 2021.
Tilsyneladende ved de folk, der driver Sandler Capital Management (2,6 milliarder USD) en god ting, når de ser det. Den New York-baserede hedgefond øgede sin ejerandel i selskabet med 35 % i det seneste kvartal. DHR er nu nr. 2 blandt fondens aktievalg og tegner sig for 5,6 % af den samlede porteføljeværdi.
Danaher, der opererer under mærker som Beckman Coulter og Cepheid, leverer misundelsesværdige afkast i år, og dets aktie er steget med mere end en tredjedel på blot de seneste seks måneder.
Man ville forvente, at HealthCor Management (AUM $4,4 milliarder) ejer en pæn del af Medtronic (MDT, $112,47). Den New York-baserede hedgefond er specialiseret i blue-chip sundhedsaktier, og Medtronic passer bestemt til beskrivelsen.
MDT er ikke kun en af verdens største producenter af medicinsk udstyr, det er også en indkomstmaskine. Selskabet har hævet sit udbytte årligt i 43 år. Medtronic bemærker, at dets udbytte pr. aktie er vokset med 50 % i løbet af det sidste halve årti og er steget med en sammensat årlig vækstrate på 17 % over de seneste 43 år.
HealthCor, som først investerede i MDT i 2017, hævede sin ejerandel med 53 % eller 486.720 aktier i 3. kvartal. Producenten af medicinsk udstyr udgør nu 5,8 % af porteføljen, en stigning fra 3,5 % i det foregående kvartal. MDT er fondens tredjestørste beholdning efter Zimmer Biomet (ZBH) og UnitedHealth (UNH).
Sjov fakta:UnitedHealth Group koster næsten 350 USD pr. aktie (UNH, $348,68) er den mest vægtede aktie i det prisvægtede Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Det er ikke det eneste første sted, som virksomheden kan gøre krav på. Med en markedsværdi på omkring 330 milliarder USD og en salgsprognose for 2021 på 278,3 milliarder USD er denne blue-chip aktie det største børsnoterede sundhedsforsikringsselskab med en bred margin.
New York hedgefond Sanders Capital (AUM $38,3 milliarder) er en stor, langvarig fan, efter først at have investeret i UNH i 2010. Senest hævede den sin ejerandel med 3% eller 178.100 aktier. Sygeforsikringsselskabet er et af de fem bedste aktievalg i fonden, som omfatter 6 % af dens samlede porteføljeværdi.
General Electric (GE, 10,60 USD) er ikke, hvad det plejede at være, men det betyder ikke, at det industrielle konglomerat ikke kan være en lønnende værdileg. Southeastern Asset Management (AUM $12,7 milliarder), som har ejet GE siden 2017, satser på, at markedet vil indse, at det har været for hårdt ved den ikoniske amerikanske virksomhed.
For nylig ser det ud til, at markedet fik notatet. Aktierne i GE steg næsten 70% i løbet af de seneste tre måneder og slog S&P 500 med omkring 60 procentpoint. Det må den Memphis, Tennessee-baserede hedgefond kunne lide. General Electric er et top-fem aktievalg med 6 % af Southeasterns samlede porteføljeværdi.
Wall Street slår også på tromme for GE. Ud af de 21 analytikere, der dækker GE, som spores af S&P Global Market Intelligence, kalder ni det et stærkt køb, fire siger køb og otte vurderer det ved Hold. Hvad angår deres konsensusanbefaling, står den også på Køb.
Veritas Asset Management, en London-baseret hedgefond med AUM på $23,5 milliarder, ser også værdi i sundhedsaktier. Det hævede sine aktier i seks af sine sundhedsbeholdninger i 3. kvartal, og et af de større væddemål, det gjorde, var på Baxter International (BAX, $76,32).
Veritas øgede sin position i medicinalfirmaet med 22%, eller lidt mere end 2 millioner aktier, i løbet af tredje kvartal. Transaktionerne gjorde, at BAX tegnede sig for 6,1 % af den samlede portefølje, op fra 5,6 % i 2. kvartal. Baxter International har været en del af Veritas-porteføljen siden 2013.
BAX-aktien blev negativ for år til dato i 3. kvartal, hvilket gav investorerne en chance for at få aktier til en bedre pris. Aktien er faldet næsten 10 % indtil videre i år, skadet af COVID-19's indvirkning på kirurgiske procedurer og andre hospitalsindlæggelser.
ACR Alpine Capital Research jagter værdiaktier. For at få en fornemmelse af, hvor de kommer fra, skal du blot vide, at deres tophold er Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B).
Et vigtigt aspekt ved at være værdiinvestor er at finde navne, der er ude af fordel hos det bredere marked. Chevron (CVX, $89,80), den eneste energiaktie i Dow Jones Industrial Average, passer til regningen.
Det Clayton, Missouri-baserede firma købte yderligere 276.942 aktier i den integrerede oliemajor i 3. kvartal – et hop på 28 %, der bragte dets samlede op på 1,2 millioner aktier. Det er godt for mere end 6 % af virksomhedens tæt koncentrerede portefølje, op fra 5,7 % i det foregående kvartal.
ACR indledte sin Chevron-position i første kvartal af 2020, hvor aktien blev slået ned af lave energipriser, træg efterspørgsel og COVID-19-markedskrakket. Aktierne er steget omkring 66 % fra bunden i 2020.
Deler på Twitter (TWTR, $47,49) har givet misundelsesværdige gevinster på næsten 50% i år. Investorer, der er i stand til at klare den præstation, kom ind på det rigtige tidspunkt, siger analytikere, da værdiansættelsen er blevet en smule strakt.
Det er derfor, at Street hælder så meget til at kalde TWTR for et hold. Ud af de 39 analytikere, der dækker aktien, der spores af S&P Global Market Intelligence, har otte den til Strong Buy, én siger Køb, 26 kalder den et Hold, to siger Sælg og én vurderer den til Strong Sell.
Men selvom TWTR er en smule dyr i disse dage, har den den slags varme vækstprognose, der ville tillade den at vokse ind i sin værdiansættelse ret hurtigt.
SRS Investment Management (AUM $7,7 milliarder), en New York hedgefond, har været en TWTR-tyr siden 2018, og det har givet pote. Måske er det derfor, den fordoblede aktien i 3. kvartal. Fonden udvidede sin position på det sociale netværk og mikroblogging-siden med 137 % eller 4,5 millioner aktier. TWTR, der nu er blandt SRS's fem bedste aktievalg, tegner sig nu for 6,4 % af porteføljen, op fra sølle 1,8 % i 2. kvartal.
Magellan Asset Management (AUM $69,2 milliarder) har været fan af Starbucks (SBUX, $100,11) siden fjerde kvartal af 2016, og det har vist sig at være et væddemål, der slår markedet indtil videre. Aktierne i kaffekæden er steget 80 % siden slutningen af 2016 i forhold til en gevinst på 64 % for S&P 500.
Den Sydney, Australien-baserede hedgefond løftede sin Starbucks-andel med 630.989 aktier, eller 2%, i det seneste kvartal, hvilket løftede den til 6,5% af dens samlede porteføljeværdi. SBUX er en top-fem-beholdning i fonden.
Analytikere er fortsat positive på aktien, mens kæder som Starbucks navigerer i de senere stadier af COVID-19-pandemien. Deres konsensusanbefaling er Køb, selvom 19 af de 34 analytikere dækker aktiekursen ved Hold.
Lægemiddelindustrien er bagud på det bredere marked i 2020, da pandemien fører til færre ture til lægen og gør det vanskeligere at gennemføre kliniske forsøg. Men på længere sigt ser udsigterne for den bredere sundhedsindustri meget lyse ud.
Blue Rock Advisors, en hedgefond med AUM på 3,7 milliarder dollar, satser på sundhedspleje i stor stil. Firmaet, der er baseret i Wayzata, Minnesota, påbegyndte en række nye stillinger i sektoren i 3. kvartal, hvilket øgede sin eksponering mod aktier, der dækker producenter af farma, biotek og medicinsk udstyr.
Et af Blue Rocks større køb var Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY, $61,78). Hedgefonden startede en ny investering i medicinalvirksomheden, idet den købte 126.737 aktier med en markedsværdi på $7,6 millioner ved udgangen af tredje kvartal. I ét hug blev BMY virksomhedens næststørste besiddelse og tegnede sig for 6,6 % af den samlede porteføljeværdi.
Selvfølgelig blev en masse aktievalg pludselig til topbeholdninger i Blue Rock i ét hug. Hedgefondens 10 største positioner er alle helt nye indsatser.
Hjemmedepot (HD, 268,14 USD) aktier er steget med 23 % i år til dato, hvilket overgår S&P 500 med ca. 10 procentpoint.
Chilton Investment Company har bemærket.
Den Stamford, Connecticut-baserede hedgefond (AUM $2,4 milliarder) øgede sine HD-beholdninger med 5%, eller 39.725 aktier, i løbet af tredje kvartal. Aktien tegner sig nu for 6,6 % af fondens samlede porteføljeværdi, hvilket gør den til en top-4-beholdning.
Bemærk godt, at Chiltons største beholdning, med 8,5 % af porteføljen, er Sherwin-Williams (SHW), som er endnu et væddemål på boligsektoren.
Richard Chilton Jr., firmaets administrerende direktør, bestyrelsesformand og investeringschef, kom på Forbes-milliardærlisten i 2015, da hans nettoformue nåede 1,2 milliarder dollars.
Procter &Gamble (PG, $137,34), en Dow-aktie, er et monster blandt virksomheder, der sælger forbrugsvarer. Dens række af mærker – herunder Charmin toiletpapir, Pampers-bleer og Tide-vaskemiddel – er fløjet af hylderne i 2020 takket være pandemien.
Aktier i den normalt stille udbyttebetaler er steget med 16 % i løbet af de seneste seks måneder og ser ud til at have mere opadrettet forude. Yacktman Asset Management, med en porteføljeværdi på $6,7 milliarder, håber bestemt det.
Den Austin, Texas-baserede hedgefond, som har ejet PG siden begyndelsen af 2001, øgede sin ejerandel med 3 % i det seneste kvartal. PG tegner sig nu for 6,7 % af fondens portefølje, op fra 6,0 % i det foregående kvartal.
Udbyttet er fondens næststørste beholdning efter PepsiCo (PEP).
Grundlægger og administrerende direktør Elon Musk er den første milliardær, der kommer til at tænke på, når vi taler om Tesla (TSLA, 593,38 USD), men der er masser af andre store væddemål, der bliver lavet på elbilproducenten.
Teslas raketskibstur i 2020 (aktierne er steget 611%) har fået en række hedgefonde til at trække sig tilbage. Hundrede fonde reducerede deres beholdning i TSLA i løbet af tredje kvartal, mod kun 67 fonde, der tilføjede flere aktier.
Coatue Management (27,8 milliarder USD i AUM), en New York-baseret hedgefond, placerede sig solidt i sidstnævnte gruppe.
Coatue fordoblede pænt sin TSLA-beholdning ved at tilføje næsten 1,6 millioner aktier i 3. kvartal. Det hvælvede Tesla op til fondens nr. 2-beholdning efter PayPal, og det er tæt på – TSLA tegner sig for 6,78 % af aktiverne mod 6,79 % for PYPL.
Tesla tegnede sig for kun 2,9 % af den samlede porteføljeværdi i det foregående kvartal.
Det har været en solid indsats. Aktierne eksploderede i 3. kvartal og fik et løft i anden fase, da S&P Dow Jones Indices i november sagde, at Tesla ville blive tilføjet til S&P 500.
Naturligvis er værdiansættelsen dog lidt af en bekymring på dette tidspunkt. TSLA-aktier har i øjeblikket en gennemsnitlig anbefaling af Hold blandt analytikere, der dækker det.
Coronavirus tog en kæmpe bid af nogle af Walt Disneys (DIS, $153.24) most important businesses:namely, its theme parks and studios. Happily, analysts are seeing the green shoots of a nascent recovery, and hedge funds are taking notice.
The number of increased positions in DIS rose 14% in Q3, while decreased positions fell 4%. Closed positions fell by half.
Matrix Capital Management (AUM $5.3 billion) is one of the funds betting on a Disney comeback in 2021. The Waltham, Mass.-based hedge fund more than doubled its stake in DIS by buying 2.2 million shares in Q3. That vaulted DIS within the ranks of Matrix's top stock picks, at 6.9% of the total portfolio value, up from 3.5% in the prior quarter.
That's some high conviction for a pretty new holding; Matrix first bought DIS in the second quarter of 2020.
It's rare to find someone who loves their health insurance company, unless that person is an investor. Cigna (CI, $213.39), which owns a score of subsidiaries ranging from Allegiance Life &Health Insurance Co. to Vielife, is well-liked by analysts and big investors alike.
That's in no small part due to CI having a long-term earnings growth forecast of more than 10% a year. As such, the stock gets an average recommendation of Buy from the 26 analysts tracked by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Hedge fund Glenview Capital Management (AUM $13.3 billion) has long been sweet on CI. The New York-based firm added incrementally to its position, buying another 8,277 shares in Q3.
Glenview Capital, which has CI as its fourth-largest holding at 7% of its portfolio, is an old fan, having first invested in the company in 2007.
Mondelez (MDLZ, $58.56) was born out of the 2012 spinoff of the North American grocery business called Kraft Foods Group. Kraft Foods Group later merged with H.J. Heinz in a 2015 deal backed by 3G Capital and Warren Buffett, to form Kraft Heinz (KHC).
Mondelez became a separate publicly traded company focused on snacks such as Oreo cookies and Triscuit crackers, but it hasn't always been a sweet deal for investors. MDLZ had a great first few years, but starting in 2015 it started trading sideways before finally getting some upside momentum in 2019.
Verde Servicos Internacionais (AUM $1.4 billion), a hedge fund in Sao Paulo, Brazil, first got involved in 2018. Since then, it has built up a position of 483,068 shares. That included the incremental addition of 7,026 shares to its position during the third quarter. MDLZ, among Verde's top five stock picks, accounts for 7% of the fund's equity portfolio value.
Raytheon Technologies (RTX, $73.29), the defense contractor that bulked up with the acquisition of United Technologies earlier this year, lost some popularity with large investors in Q3.
The stock showed up as a top-10 holding in 20 investment funds, down from 24 funds in Q2. The number of funds holding shares dropped to 1,800 from 1,821. At the same time, reduced positions rose 11.1%.
One billionaire investment outfit that still finds plenty of value in RTX is Soroban Capital Partners (AUM $10.4 billion). The New York hedge fund increased its stake by 12%, or 1.6 million shares. RTX now accounts for 8.1% of the total portfolio value, making it the fund's No. 4 holding.
Shares in RTX are off about 22% so far this year – for the optimistic, that means an attractive entry point. Analysts' average recommendation comes to Buy, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Adobe (ADBE, $484.28) is the undisputed leader in making software for designers and other creative types. Its software arsenal includes Photoshop, Premiere Pro for video editing and Dreamweaver for website design, among others.
Analysts forecast average annual earnings growth of more than 15% over the next three to five years, and their consensus recommendation stands at Buy.
Given all that, there's nothing mysterious about Suvretta Capital Management's (AUM $5.8 billion) long-term commitment to the stock. The New York hedge fund, which has owned a stake in ADBE since 2013, added an incremental 1,300 shares to its position during the third quarter. It remains the fund's top holding at 8.5% of the equity portfolio.
Lowe's (LOW, $151.97) often plays second fiddle to rival Home Depot, the nation's largest home improvement chain, but analysts are actually more bullish on LOW these days.
And income investors know the power of Lowe's over the longer haul. The retailer has paid a cash distribution every quarter since going public in 1961, and that dividend has increased annually for 58 years.
More recently, home improvement retailers and other housing market stocks have profited mightily during the pandemic. Lots of folks stuck at home or in big cities are refurbishing their dwellings or looking to move. That has helped propel LOW to a 27% year-to-date gain.
One billionaire investment outfit looking to ride the wave is the aforementioned Verde Servicos Internacionais (AUM $1.4 billion). The firm initiated a position in LOW during Q3, buying 205,361 shares. At 8.6% of the total portfolio value, LOW is the hedge fund's largest stock pick, but not by much – Microsoft is No. 2 at 8.5%.
Exxon Mobil (XOM, $40.21), the integrated oil major that until recently was a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, is having a bad couple of years. Weak energy demand amid a slower pandemic-constrained global economy is doing it no favors.
With shares off 42% in 2020 – and down more than 50% over the past two years – hedge funds are fleeing in droves. The number of hedge funds initiating new positions dropped 23% in Q3. Funds increasing their extant positions declined 26%. And the number of closed positions rose 59% over the prior quarter.
Beaten-down, out-of-favor stocks are always worth a closer look as potential value plays, however. Holowesko Partners (AUM $4.3 billion), based in Nassau, Bermuda, certainly appears to see hidden worth in XOM shares.
The hedge fund lifted its stake in the energy company by 3% in the third quarter, or 61,000 shares. Exxon now accounts for 9.3% of the fund's total portfolio value, up from 8.3% in Q2, to put the stock among the fund's top five stock picks.
Netflix (NFLX, $497.52) has done well as folks hunker down at home during the pandemic, but some investors think it's time to take profits from the volatile stock.
Tiff Advisory Services (AUM $5.8 billion) is not one of them.
The hedge fund, based in Radnor, Pennsylvania, first started building a position in the streaming media and production giant during the first quarter of 2020, and it continued to do so in Q3. The hedge fund upped its NFLX stake by 31%, which made it the third-largest holding with 10% of the total portfolio value.
New positions and increased positions in NFLX among hedge funds both declined last quarter. Reduced positions and closed positions rose.
However, like Tiff, analysts are standing behind the stock. Their consensus recommendation stands at Buy.
It's not difficult to find Apple (AAPL, $122.94) fanboys. There's a reason why the iPhone maker is the world's most valuable company, topping more than $2 trillion.
At any rate, you can count Camden Capital as an AAPL bull. The $2.2 billion hedge fund based in El Segundo, Calif., raised its stake by 10,916 shares, or 5%, in Q3. With a total of 226,388 shares, Apple accounts for 10.4% of the firm's portfolio value, making it the second-largest holding after the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) exchange-traded fund.
Camden Capital first invested in Apple during the fourth quarter of 2019, which means the position is already paying off handsomely. AAPL is up about 85% over the past 52 weeks. Analysts expect the new iPhone 12 to set off a massive upgrade cycle that will further help boost the stock – and early supply checks suggest this might just be the case.
Lastly, any discussion about the "smart money" and Apple wouldn't be complete without a reminder that AAPL makes up 48% of Berkshire Hathaway's equity holdings.
Mastercard (MA, $335.14), the world's No. 2 payments processor, has fans in high places. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, for example, counts it among its holdings.
Less famous but no less bullish professional stock pickers were buying the name in Q3. One of them, Rivulet Capital (AUM $3.4 billion), raised its stake by 5%, or 30,900 shares. Rivulet first bought shares in MA in the first quarter of 2020. That position has quickly swelled to account for 10.8% of the New York hedge fund's total portfolio value, making it Rivulet's third-largest holding.
Apparently the fund buys into the idea that the relentless growth of digital mobile payments and other cashless transactions gives MA a bright outlook.
And well they should. Analysts, who rate shares at Buy, see MA generating average annual earnings growth of 17.5% over the next three to five years, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Charterkommunikation (CHTR, $670.43) markets cable TV, internet, telephone and other services under the Spectrum brand, which is America's second-largest cable operator behind Comcast (CMCSA). Det udvidede i høj grad sin rækkevidde i 2016, da det købte Time Warner Cable og søsterselskabet Bright House Networks.
Warren Buffett has been a shareholder since 2014, although Berkshire Hathaway has pared its position over the years. But that doesn't mean it's not right for every portfolio. And analysts have a consensus recommendation of Buy on the stock.
One big-money fund that's happily picking up shares is Gladstone Capital Management (AUM $1.3 billion). The London-based hedge fund increased its position by a massive 33% in the most recent quarter. At 10.9%, CHTR is now No. 4 among the fund's top stock picks.
Cryder Capital Partners, a hedge fund based in London with AUM of $1 billion, has a couple of significant bets on the healthcare sector.
In Q3, it raised its stake in HCA Healthcare (HCA, $152.75) by 17%, or 144,607 shares. Cryder now owns a total of 952,090 shares in the operator of healthcare facilities, good for 11% of a tightly packed portfolio that has just nine holdings at present.
HCA is the hedge fund's sixth largest position. Coming in at No. 1 is Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), which has been called the Amazon of the healthcare field because of its broad set of capabilities.
A drop in visits to healthcare professionals has taken a toll on HCA's hospitals, urgent care centers and physician clinics. Shares are trailing the S&P 500 by about 10 percentage points so far this year. HCA sold off sharply at one point in Q3, offering a tempting entry point for investors.
Lindsell Train, with $28.7 billion in AUM, made PepsiCo (PEP, $144.45) one of its few buys in Q3. The London hedge fund pared down most of its top holdings during the quarter, but the fizzy drinks and snacks company was an exception.
Lindsell Train added 40,500 shares, bringing its total holdings up to almost 5 million. Between putting more money to work in PEP and the stock's gains in Q2, PepsiCo rose to 11.2% of the hedge fund's portfolio value, up from 10.9% in the prior quarter. The stock, which is Lindsell Train's fifth-largest holding, has been a part of the portfolio since 2015.
PEP shares are positive for the year-to-date, but they are lagging the broader market. Demand for its products is down because of the shutdown of bars, restaurants, cinemas, stadiums and other entertainment venues.
Nike (NKE, $136.96) stock is sprinting this year. The athletic footwear and apparel company's shares are up 35% in 2020, and analysts remain bullish on the name.
It appears that Gladstone Capital Management (AUM $1.3 billion) is plenty bullish too. The London hedge fund boosted its stake by 15% in Q3 to make the Dow stock a top-three position accounting for 11.5% of the portfolio.
The hedge fund entered Nike almost two years ago and must surely be glad that it did. NKE has gained 85% since the beginning of 2019. Analysts rate shares at Buy, in part because this big guy of a stock can still run. Despite its size, with a market cap of $215 billion, the Street forecasts Nike to generate average annual earnings growth of almost 20% for the next three to five years.
Comcast (CMCSA, $51.59), the nation's largest cable company, regularly makes the list of hedge funds' favorite stock picks. That's because its combination of content, broadband, pay TV, theme parks and movies is unparalleled by rivals, and gives this blue-chip stock a huge strategic advantage.
And Billionaire Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management (AUM $11.3 billion) made the cable giant its biggest buy during the third quarter. Peltz more than doubled his position in CMCSA after adding 8.5 million shares. That move vaulted the stock from 5.1% to 11.6% of Trian's total portfolio value.
Peltz is a well-known activist investor, and he can be a huge headache for management teams. After first buying shares in Q2, Trian said CMCSA is "undervalued" and that it is having "constructive discussions with Comcast's management team."
Fortunately, it's responsible for only a few headaches at the moment. The fund currently holds just nine stocks.
Pharmaceutical giant Merck's (MRK, $81.45) key growth engine is Keytruda, a blockbuster cancer drug approved for more than 20 indications. Investors can take comfort in the fact that Merck's patent on the drug runs for another eight years.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway initiated a position in Q3, buying 22.4 million shares. But while the stake was worth $1.9 billion as of the end of the third quarter, that represented a mere sliver of BRK.B's portfolio.
SRB Corp. (AUM $2.9 billion), however, is far more committed to the Dow stock. The Boston-based advisory, a shareholder since 2011, made another incremental buy in Q3. Merck now accounts for almost 13% of the advisory's total portfolio, up from 11.7% in the previous quarter.
Count Greenhaven Associates ($6.7 billion in AUM) as a Goldman Sachs (GS, $235.47) bull. The large advisory service headquartered in Purchase, New York, continued to add to its second-largest holding in Q3.
Greenhaven, which bought another 26,750 shares to bring its holdings up to almost 3 million shares, has owned the Wall Street investment bank since 2014. At 13.1% of the total portfolio value, GS is the firm's second-largest position after homebuilder Lennar (LEN).
Goldman Sachs is trailing the S&P 500 by 11 percentage points so far in 2020, but analysts largely remain on its side. Their average recommendation comes to Buy, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Ten analysts call it a Strong Buy and six have it at Buy. Nine analysts rate the stock at Hold and one says Sell.
VGI Partners is betting big on CME Group (CME, $181.71). The Sydney, Australia-based hedge fund (AUM $2.7 million), upped its already considerable bet on the exchange operator during the third quarter.
VGI bought an additional 11,505 shares to bring its holdings up to 625,550. With a market value of $104.7 million as of the end of Q3, the position accounts for 13.8% of the firm's holdings – up from 11.7% in the previous quarter – to make it the firm's third-largest investment after Amazon.com (AMZN) and Mastercard (MA).
VGI first bought shares in the operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade and New York Mercantile Exchange in the first quarter of 2013, and you can't argue with the results. CME has outperformed the S&P 500 by about 100 percentage points since the beginning of 2013.
Salesforce.com (CRM, $220.97) is having quite an eventful year. The software-as-a-service company (SaaS) was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average two months ago and in early December announced a $27.7 billion deal to acquire Slack Technologies (WORK), a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company best-known for its communications platform.
The market wasn't exactly thrilled with the Slack deal, knocking about 9% off CRM's share price in two days following the announcement, but it still has been a fine holding this year. Shares are up about 37% in 2020 and have been more impressive as a longer-term holding. Indeed, over the past three years, CRM gained 112% vs. a 39% rise in the S&P 500.
Kirkoswald Asset Management (AUM $6.3 billion) is a New York hedge fund with a hyper-concentrated equity portfolio of just three positions. It must really believe in CRM to have made it the fund's second-largest holding in Q3. Its largest position, interestingly enough, is call options on the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM), the largest exchange-traded fund that focuses on small-cap stocks; that position makes up 73% of the equity portfolio.
Bausch Health Companies (BHC, $19.24) used to be known as Valeant Pharmaceuticals, and it would be happy if investors forgot that. A massive debt load, allegations of improper accounting and other controversies caused the stock to collapse in 2015.
BHC has since undergone an overhaul, which has greatly improved its prospects. Although John Paulson, billionaire owner of hedge fund Paulson &Co., is probably the company's best known billionaire backer, he's far from the only one.
New York hedge fund Permian Investment Partners ($2.4 billion in AUM) is a big believer in the remade entity, too. The firm raised its stake in BHC by 775,000 shares, or 17%, during the third quarter. With a claim of 15.7% of the fund's portfolio value, BHC is Permian's No. 4 holding.
Permian first invested in the company during the second quarter of 2020.
Gold hasn't always made a solid long-term investment, but it can be a great shorter-term trade. That's why it's common to see billionaires have SPDR Gold Shares (GLD, $172.81) among their top stock picks. The gold exchange-traded fund is a low-cost way to bet on the price of the precious metal.
New York-based Arnhold (AUM $4.4 billion) is certainly bullish on gold's prospects. GLD is its largest holding, comprising 16.1% of its total portfolio value. The hedge fund first invested in the ETF in 2018, and it keeps upping the ante.
During the third quarter, Arnhold lifted its stake by 4%, or 27,859 shares, to bring its total holdings up to more than 615,000 shares.
The hedge fund's gold bullishness doesn't end there:Its second-largest holding is the iShares Gold Trust (IAU) – yet another gold ETF.
If you can't beat them, join them. That's one way of looking at an investment in Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B, $44.11). After all, few people can compete with Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett for generating market-beating returns over long periods of time.
So all due respect to Check Capital Management (AUM $1.4 billion). The hedge fund based in Costa Mesa, California, isn't afraid to ride the Oracle of Omaha's coat tails.
Check Capital increased its holding in BRK.B by 3%, or 43,987 shares in Q3. The firm now holds 1.3 million shares in the company, which is worth more than $300 million at current prices. At 17.5% of the portfolio, BRK.B is the hedge fund's second-largest holding, but that doesn't tell the whole story.
Its top holding, comprising 46% of its portfolio value, are call options in BRK.B . So if the hedge fund keeps adding to its Berkshire Hathaway stake in the quarters ahead, don't be too surprised. It's clearly a fan.
Microsoft (MSFT, $214.24) is a natural stock pick for pretty much any institutional investor's portfolio. Its Windows operating system still is the most popular in the world, and the company has fully figured out how to drive recurring revenue by selling cloud-based services (including its Office productivity suite) to both enterprise and retail customers.
One noteworthy big investor is Skye Global Management, a New York-based hedge fund with $1.4 billion in AUM.
The fund, which specializes in tech stocks, counts MSFT as its top holding, comprising almost 20% of its total portfolio value. Skye upped its stake in the company by 66%, or 1.5 million shares, during the third quarter. That brought its total haul to 3.4 million shares. Skye first bought MSFT stock in 2017.
Other top holdings include Facebook (FB), Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon.com.
There was no shortage of billionaire investors taking a little off the top of their holdings in Amazon.com (AMZN, $3,186.73) during the third quarter. But for every seller there is a buyer, and one of those buyers was Spark Investment Management.
The New York hedge fund with $1.7 billion in AUM initiated a position of 4,559 shares with a market value of $14.4 million. Amazon, accounting for nearly 20% of assets under management, is now the hedge fund's second-largest equity investment after Facebook.
Facebook also was a new investment for the firm. Other fresh tech investments made by Spark in Q3 include Salesforce.com, Netflix and Square (SQ).
Amazon has been one of the beneficiaries of folks being stuck at home. Shares are up about 72% for the year-to-date.
Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL, $1,821.84) is one of the handful of tech and tech-related stocks that have helped drag the market higher in 2020. Analysts expect it to continue to do so.
The leader in search shares with Facebook a duopoly in digital advertising that is growing at an accelerating rate both at home and abroad. With a long-term growth forecast of almost 16% a year for the next three to five years, it's understandable that the Street's consensus call on the stock is Buy.
Not that any of this is news to Altarock Partners (AUM $2.1 billion), a hedge fund in Beverly, Mass. The fund first bought GOOGL in 2019 and has been faithful ever since. In Q3, Altarock added an incremental number of shares to its GOOGL stake, which now stands at a whopping 25% of its total portfolio value. At current prices, the stake has a market value of $656 million.
Himalaya Capital Management (AUM $13.9 billion), a hedge fund in Seattle, maintains a concentrated portfolio of just four stocks. Thus, even though Facebook (FB, $281.85) claims 26.5% of the equity portfolio's assets, it's only No. 2 – Micron Technologies (MU) claims more than 40% of the total portfolio value. The two other holdings are Bank of America (BAC) and Alphabet Class C shares (GOOG).
But FB is where the fund really bulked up in Q3. Himalaya Capital bought another 722,100 shares to boost its holdings by 118%. The investment more than doubled FB's percentage of portfolio assets.
It's a defensible move. Facebook is up by more than a third in 2020, and analysts, who rate the stock at Buy, forecast average annual earnings growth of 19.5% a year for the next three to five years. That should support the rich valuation of nearly 28 times next year's earnings.
Walmart (WMT, $149.30) has been one of the beneficiaries of the pandemic way of life, and that's good news for investors with a hefty exposure to the world's largest retailer. Cullinan Associates, an advisory firm based in Louisville, Kentucky, with assets under management (AUM) of $1.5 billion, was happy to keep adding to an already significant stake in WMT.
Cullinan Associates bought another 95,760 shares in the Dow stock, solidifying WMT's place as the firm's single-largest stock pick at 27.4% of the total equity portfolio – and it's not even close, with No. 2 Coca-Cola at just 4.3% of assets. Cullinan's stake of more than 3 million shares is worth $465 million at current prices.
So far it looks like a wise trade. Walmart's stock added about 17% in the third quarter and is up almost 30% for the year-to-date.
Visa (V, $208.05) gets a lot of love from hedge funds, mutual funds, analysts and retail investors. Its appeal is easy to understand. As the world's largest payments processor, Visa is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the explosive global growth in digital mobile payments and other cashless transactions.
Warren Buffett is a big believer in the name, as well. Berkshire Hathaway has a $2 billion stake in the company. Less well-known is Odey Asset Management Group's (AUM $3.5 billion) high faith in Visa.
The London-based hedge fund allocates a whopping 42.1% of its portfolio to Visa. That would be a massive weight in even the most concentrated of portfolios, but Odey holds more than 110 stocks. Its next largest position, which is Barrick Gold, accounts for just 5.2% of its holdings.
What's remarkable is just how quickly Odey flipped the switch. In the prior quarter, Visa, which had only been part of the portfolio since 2018, made up just 0.5% of equity assets. The company added 1.5 million shares during Q3 to raise its stake by more than 9,000%.
Utilities stocks are supposed to be poky dividend payers that help you sleep well at night.
PG&E (PCG, $12.60), however, is a little riskier.
If the name is familiar, that's likely because it was embroiled in massive legal battles after its equipment was linked to several fatal wildfires. Indeed, it only emerged from bankruptcy last summer – a necessity as it faced an estimated $30 billion in liabilities.
Nonetheless, Silver Point Capital (AUM $13.6 billion) has owned the utility since 2018, building up a sizable position along the way. In the most recent quarter, the Greenwich, Connecticut-based fund raised its stake by 3%, or 1.3 million shares. PCG now accounts for more than 46% of the fund's portfolio value.
Analysts are bullish on the name, giving it a consensus recommendation of Buy. And the share price performance has certainly been reassuring. PCG stock is up 37% over the past three months.
Castle Hook Partners (AUM $2.2 billion) has 52.5% of its total portfolio value tied up in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY, $366.69). The remainder of the New York hedge fund's portfolio is diversified over scores of stocks. Indeed, most of its stock picks are individually less than 1% of equity assets.
This exchange-traded fund is one of the best ways to track the performance of the most used benchmark for U.S. equities. It's a must-have for most retail investors, who have little hope of beating the market consistently year after year. Importantly, it's also cheap. Even Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holds a sliver of a position in the ETF.
Some investors might wonder why a high-fee hedge fund would dedicate more than half its portfolio to a cheap index fund. Well, there's nothing wrong with making a big bet on the U.S. stock market. And the fund doesn't have to worry that the position will lag the S&P 500 (past fees, of course).