Billionaire Halvorsen’s Viking Global Grabs Big Stakes in Dow Chemical Co. (DOW), Deere & Co. (DE), More During Q4

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was the fourth-largest holding of Viking Global as of the end of December, despite the fund selling 1.3 million shares during the period and reducing its overall stake to 1.6 million shares valued at $1.2 billion. D.E Shaw & Co. almost halved its own stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), selling 541,398 shares to reduce its holding to 539,476 shares. The online retail leader has given a tremendous return of 66% to investors over the last year and currently has a market capitalization of $402 billion. Not only has the company diversified successfully to become a leader in the cloud computing industry, it has also taken a big lead over others in the voice assistance technology segment, with Echo selling like hot cakes during the holiday season. The company plans to further backward integrate into supply chain management by entering the air freight business.

American Chemicals giant Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE:DOW) was Viking Global Investors’ biggest new stock purchase during the fourth quarter, as the fund bought 19.6 million shares worth $1.1 billion. It is not only the fifth-largest holding of the hedge fund, but also the only materials stock amongst its top-10 holdings. Larry Robbins‘ Glenview Capital bought 2.89 million Dow shares in Q4, increasing its position to 8.79 million shares valued at $503 million. Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE:DOW) reported adjusted fourth quarter earnings of $0.99 per share, beating the consensus of $0.88. Revenue of $13 billion also beat the consensus of $12.38 billion. The stock is up by almost 7% in the 2017 and trades near its 52-week high of $61.85. Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE:DOW) pays out a quarterly dividend of $0.46 a share, which equates to a handsome forward yield of 3%.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) was another new purchase of Viking Global’s during the fourth quarter, as the fund bought 9.3 million shares valued at $959 million. This made the industrial equipment maker the sixth-largest holding of the hedge fund at the end of 2016. Quant hedge fund D E Shaw was the third-largest buyer of the stock in Q4, initiating a new position in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) of 1.43 million shares valued at $147 million. The company has heavily outperformed the broader market by gaining almost 40% over the last year. A majority of the analysts covering the stock have rated it as a ‘Hold’ and its mean target price of $103 is almost 5% lower than its current market price. Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) should perform better under the new Trump administration, with its policy focus on the U.S industrial sector.

Disclosure: None