American Airlines Group (AAL), DISH Network (DISH), Actavis (ACT): Billionaire James Dinan’s Long-Term Picks

Last quarter, York Capital Management increased its exposure to DISH Network Corp (NASDAQ:DISH) by 272,400 shares. Following this 5% increase to one of its top long-term picks, the investment firm now owns around 5.21 million shares, valued at $379.56 million at the time of the 13F filing. Furthermore, Mr. Dinan’s firm has held a position in the company since the third quarter of 2012, when it acquired an initial stake of 994,600 shares. DISH Network saw its share price rise by 26.37% in 2014. Furthermore, since June, 2013 the stock gained approximately 73%, hence generating excellent returns for York Capital. Mr. Dinan is not the only manager bullish on DISH Network Corp (NASDAQ:DISH), as a total of 74 hedge funds that we track are betting on this stock. The largest shareholder among these institutional investors is Boykin Curry’s Eagle Capital Management, which holds a stake of 9.24 million shares as of last quarter.

Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT) is another of York Capital Management’s largest long-term bets, with a holding of 1.35 million shares, valued at $348.64 million at the end of 2014. Mr. Dinan has been bullish on this stock since the second quarter of 2013, when his fund reported holding 1.29 million shares. After gaining 55.87% throughout 2014, Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT)’s stock has already climbed around 15% year-to-date, and is very popular among investment firms. In fact, it ranks as the third most popular stock among the hedge funds we track, with a total of 131 entities betting on the company, and holding in aggregate $13.99 billion worth of its shares. Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global is particularly bullish on Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT), which ranks among its top five picks for the last quarter, with a stake of 4.58 million shares. Dan Loeb’s Third Point is also betting on this stock, with a stake of 3.45 million shares as of the end of 2014. Furthermore, twenty-three analysts gave Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT) an average recommendation of “Buy” and set the stock’s price target at $310.68. So far this year, the company has not disappointed shareholders, as it hit its 52-week high of $299.88 on Thursday, and was trading at $297.13 as of mid-day Friday.

Disclosure: none.