Hedge funds have recently been filing their 13-F forms--quarterly reports of equity holdings by filed institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in equity assets under management, as required by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In this article, let�s concentrate on one particular hedge fund and try to see the principal holdings in its portfolio. I will look into Elliott Management.
The fund recently reported its equity portfolio at the end of December. The total value of the portfolio amounted to $9.59 billion. The filing revealed that at the end of December, the fund added 18 new positions to its equity portfolio and sold out of 12 other companies. The top ten portfolio holdings at the end of the quarter represented 83.20%. The largest changes from previous 13-F fillings were in the consumer discretionary and energy sector.
In this article, we have selected three companies, in which the fund holds the largest stakes, in terms of market value.
The first on the list is Hess Corp (HES), in which the fund disclosed a $1.3 billion stake with over 17.8 million shares, up by 13.69% in the last quarter. The exploration and production company, develops, produces, purchases, transports, and sells crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas. The stake represents 13.69% of the fund�s portfolio.
Revenues declined by 6.07% in the fourth quarter to $ 2.55 billion, and this led to an abrupt decrease in earnings per share to -$0.02 from $2.76 obtained in the same quarter the year prior. The return on equity is lower when compared to the ratio of the same quarter one year before, and this clearly shows a sign of weakness.
Other hedge fund gurus have also been active in the company. Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio), Brian Rogers (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), Michael Price (Trades, Portfolio) and Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) have added the stock in the last quarter of 2014, as well as Manning & Napier Advisors, Inc.
EMC Corp. (EMC) comes in next, the fund owning over 33.5 million shares, worth $996.29 million. The company is one of the world's largest suppliers of enterprise storage systems. It owns 80% of VMware, the largest provider of server virtualization software. The stake represents 10.38% of the fund�s portfolio.
It has reported earnings growth of 16.67% in the fourth quarter, but the stock has plummeted by 8.4% over the last year. During the past fiscal year, the company reported lower earnings of $1.31 versus $1.33 in the previous year. This year, Wall Street expects an improvement in earnings ($1.98 versus $1.31).
Other hedge fund gurus have also been active in the company. Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), Daniel Loeb (Trades, Portfolio) and Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) initiated positions in this stock in the fourth quarter of 2014. Others that have added the stock were Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), David Einhorn (Trades, Portfolio), John Rogers (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), Sarah Ketterer (Trades, Portfolio) and the funds Dodge & Cox and PRIMECAP Management .
In Juniper Networks Inc (JNPR) the fund disclosed ownership of over 39.24 million shares, worth $875.86 million. The company designs, develops, and sells high-performance network products and services worldwide. The stake represents 9.13% of the fund�s portfolio.
Other hedge funds have also been active in the company. Dodge & Cox , Manning & Napier Advisors, Inc . and Diamond Hill Capital have taken long positions in the last quarter of 2014.
Final comment
All of the stocks mentioned had declined in the past year. Mr. Singer has almost a third of the value of the portfolio in the aforementioned stocks. But what is more worrying is the fact that all of them lost market value in a year-to-date basis. Juniper lost -0.13%, Hess -8.75% and EMC declined -15.36%.
Disclosure: Omar Venerio holds no position in any stocks or funds mentioned.
This article first appeared on
GuruFocus.