Highlights from 40 second-quarter 13Fs
It's good practice to keep an eye on what the "smart money" is up to...
That's why every quarter, I mine for investment ideas by reviewing a certain type of regulatory filing: the 13F.
Institutional investors with at least $100 million in assets under management have to file a 13F every quarter to disclose their equity holdings.
It's easy to see which stocks were bought and sold during the quarter when compared against the previous quarter. That means 13Fs can be a good place for finding interesting stocks.
This PDF summarizes the second-quarter 13Fs for 40 of the largest, best-known money managers. (My friend Scott Tashman of trading firm Outset Global sent it to me.)
Frankly, fewer ideas than usual jumped off the page. But today, let's review what caught my eye...
1) On Friday, I commented on two revelations in Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK-B) 13F. The company has continued to sell its massive position in Apple (AAPL) and established a new position in beaten-down health insurer UnitedHealth (UNH).
The rest of Berkshire's 13F summary doesn't reveal any other major moves:
2) Next, I'm always interested to see what my college buddy Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management is up to...
His hedge fund established a new stake in Amazon (AMZN) and exited a three-year position in railroad company Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP):
Neither of these big moves was a surprise. As this Reuters article reports, Bill disclosed them in a conference call with his investors on May 22.
I'm glad to see he shares my bullishness on two of my three favorite tech giants, Amazon and Alphabet (GOOGL). Now he just needs to add Meta Platforms (META)!
3) Investment firm Tiger Global Management also bought Amazon and Alphabet in the second quarter:
4) Another old friend, David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital, had a busy quarter...
He added new positions in Fluor (FLR) and Victoria's Secret (VSCO). He also ramped up his stakes in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA), a generic drugmaker, and Graphic Packaging (GPK), a company I've never heard of. (I'll have to take a look at these four stocks.)
But his most interesting move was throwing in the towel on fitness company Peloton Interactive (PTON), selling 96% of the position:
On October 29, I covered David's bull case for Peloton, so I would be interested to know his reason for selling here. I continue to remain on the sidelines for this stock.
5) Interestingly, as David was dumping millions of PTON shares, Ricky Sandler of Eminence Capital did the opposite: He established a sizable 16.24-million-share position in Peloton.
They also seem to have differing views on GPK, which Sandler sold. And he exited Uber Technologies (UBER), one of Bill Ackman's core positions:
6) Activist investor Jeff Smith of Starboard Value bought three stocks I've written about several times...
He established a new position in travel website Tripadvisor (TRIP), which I analyzed through my "first look" lens on January 8. The next day, I shared a bull case on the stock from a friend and former business partner.
Smith also added to his position in dating-app operator Match Group (MTCH) – which I last wrote about favorably on August 7 – and pharma giant Pfizer (PFE) – which I last wrote about neutrally on March 26:
Overall, it was good to see investors I respect a great deal sharing my bullishness on Amazon, Alphabet, Tripadvisor, and Match.
And I plan on taking a closer look at Fluor, Victoria's Secret, Teva, and Graphic Packaging. So stay tuned...
Best regards,
Whitney
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