In terms of first-quarter returns the leader among the five stocks from our compilation is Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT), which jumped by 15.62% amid completing the acquisition of botox-maker Allergan. Among the funds that we track, 131 investors reported holding shares of the $120 billion company, which makes it the most popular healthcare pick among the funds that we track. Actavis is one of the largest pharmaceuticals companies in the world and the latest acquisition of Allergan is only a part of a series of purchases that Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT) has made in the last several years, having grown its portfolio with the additions of more and more generic and branded drugs. Amid the acquisition of Allergan, analysts have been raising their ratings on the stock and increasing price targets. Among the latest are RBC Capital, Zacks, and Sterne Agee. RBC Capital and Sternee Agee raised their price targets to $361 and $340, with ‘Top Pick’ and ‘Buy’ ratings, respectively, while Zacks upgraded the stock to ‘Strong Buy’ from ‘Buy’. The largest shareholder of Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT) among the funds that we track is Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global, which increased its stake by 80% during the quarter to 4.59 million shares.
Then there is American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL), which also declined during the first quarter, losing 1.38%. The downward trend might continue for a couple more days, after Deutsche Bank yesterday downgraded the stock to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ and cut the price target to $58 from $78. American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) was downgraded on the back of lower earnings from international sales that are forecasted for it. Nevertheless, the industry is expected to perform strongly this year and to generate high profits and free cash flow. Overall, at the end of 2014, 123 hedge funds held shares of American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL), including James Dinan’s York Capital Management, which holds American Airlines as its top holding, with it containing 12.19 million shares, down by 22% over the quarter.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s class A stock landed on the fifth spot among the most popular picks of hedge funds, but the stock generated modest returns of 5.43% in the first three months of 2015. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is currently under scrutiny from the EU antitrust authority in a five-year old investigation regarding possible abuse of the company’s dominance in the region’s search market, with the case still ongoing. Overall, among the funds that we track, 120 investors reported holding class A shares of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) with a total value of $6.11 billion, and some 105 funds held around $5.68 billion worth of class C stock. Among the company’s shareholders is Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management, which owns 794,300 shares of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s class A stock.
Disclosure: None
