Billionaire John Griffin’s Five Picks That Killed the Market This Quarter

Blue Ridge Capital’s stake in Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) has remained unaltered throughout the past two quarters and amounts to 1.85 million shares, valued at $236.67 million. The fund was smart to continue betting on this stock, which represented 2.87% of its equity portfolio in terms of value, and returned 18.0% in the first quarter. Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital was also bullish on Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA), boasting a stake of 3.34 million shares at the beginning of 2015.

With a stake of 2.73 million shares, valued at roughly $454.87 million, Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) ranked as Blue Ridge Capital’s largest position at the beginning of the year. The investment firm was surely not disappointed in its top pick, which returned 15.90% during the first quarter.  After gaining around 125% over the past two years, the stock continued on its ascendant path this quarter. Furthermore, Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) recently announced the purchase of Bright House Networks for $10.4 billion, sending share prices even highly.  In addition, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is one of the company’s largest shareholders among institutional investors, with a stake of 6.19 million shares.

Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC) might have been the worst-performing stock among the five equities featured in this article, yet it returned a solid 14.01% this quarter. Blue Ridge Capital has held a position of 3.15 million shares since the third quarter of 2014, valued at $284.77 million according to its latest 13F filing. David E. Shaw’s DE Shaw ranks as one of Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC)’s largest shareholders among institutional investors, holding 10.03 million shares. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management is another bull worth mentioning, as it owns 2.56 million shares as of last quarter, when it increased its exposure to the stock by 19%.

Disclosure: none.