Billionaire Dan Loeb Buys Back Into Apple, Adds Alibaba, Visa, More

Third Point held nearly 2.6 million shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA) at the end of the third quarter, worth $275 million. This company is the world’s second largest online retailer with a market value of $224 billion. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA) owns some of the top online properties in China such as the retail online shopping destination (Taobao Marketplace) and retail platform (Tmall), besides global consumer marketplace targeting consumers (AliExpress). This stock has given a good return of 11% over the last one year. The company is the dominant online player in the country with the greatest number of internet users and showed a turnover of more than 100 billion yuan last year. About 35 out of the 43 analysts covering the stock have rated it as a “buy”.

The company reported that its sales had already exceeded more than $15 billion during the first 20 hours of the “Singles Day” shopping festival in China. As per our records, the number of funds having Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA) in their portfolio increased to 104 in the third quarter from 69 in the earlier quarter. The value of their holdings also appreciated to $8.26 billion from $5.51 billion quarter over quarter. Alibaba also ranked #1 among the tech stocks snapped by billionaires during the third quarter.

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) is another stock in which Third Point initiated a new position during the third quarter and held 1.4 million shares worth $247 million. This company is in the health and well-being segment providing services such as pharmacy solutions, provider services, home-based services and clinical programs. It also markets medicare benefits to individuals or directly via group accounts. The stock has returned around 9% over the last one year and trades at the top of its 52 week trading range. The company has a market value of $29 billion and has a trailing P/E of ~26x. About 8 out of the 16 analysts covering this stock have rated it as a buy. The average earnings estimate for Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) this year is $9.5 per share which is an increase of ~22% year on year. The company reported revenues of more than $13 billion during the third quarter with a return on equity (ROE) of 16.29%. Approximately 22% of the company’s float as of September 30th was held by 66 hedge funds from our database. The value of their holdings also increased to $5.94 million from $5.82 million quarter over quarter.

4.25 million shares of Conagra Brands Inc. (NYSE:CAG) valued at $200 million were being held by Third Point by the end of quarter three. It is the owner of some top brands such as Healthy Choice, Slim Jim, Hebrew National, Orville Redenbacher’s, Peter Pan, Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Rosarita, Fleischmann’s and Hunt’s. The stock is trading near the bottom of its 52 week price range, after falling by almost 14% over the last one year. The company gives a dividend yield of 2.86% and has a market value of $10.8 billion. Conagra Brands Inc. (NYSE:CAG) reported revenues of $2.67 billion during the third quarter with an operating margin of 16%. Analysts have an average rating of “overweight” for this stock. The company recently announced the spin-off of its subsidiary Lamb Weston Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LW) which is a supplier of frozen potato, sweet potato, appetizer and vegetable products. The world’s largest branded food supplier witnessed an increased interest from hedge funds. The number of funds that we track having Conagra Brands Inc. (NYSE:CAG) in their portfolio increased to 50 in the third quarter from 41 in the quarter earlier.

Third Point took a new position in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and held 2.1 million shares worth $173.67 million during the third quarter. The company owns and operates one of the largest payments processing networks in the world providing its services to consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in over 200 countries for electronic payments. It has also started offering a suite of digital, e-commerce, person-to-person payments, and mobile products and services. The stock is currently trading very near the top of its 52 week trading range and it has a market capitalization of more than $190 billion. The company operates at very high margins as it managed to earn a net income of $6.3 billion on revenues of $13.9 billion in 2015. Approximately 94% of its total outstanding stock is held by institutions. Charles Scharf, its former CEO stepped down recently and was succeeded by former American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) President Alfred Kelly. The hedge funds held approximately 6% of the company’s outstanding stock as of September 30th. The number of these funds deccreased to 115 from 118 in the second quarter.

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