Griffin did not change his equity stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the first quarter, with it still amounting to 4.58 million shares, valued at $387.83 million. Walgreens’ shares have increased by 11% year-to-date and might still move higher in the upcoming months as the company has undertaken a beautification project with the acquisition of Alliance Boots. A number of former executives of Alliance Boots joined the management team of the largest U.S. drugstore chain and as a result, the company is recreating its stores so as to achieve a more appealing cosmetics area with a wider portfolio of products. Specifically, the company’s Boots No. 7 skincare line is expected to deliver strong performance, as it has been successfully dragging customers to its European stores. Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global is also one of the largest shareholders of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA), holding a stake of 14.60 million shares valued at $1.24 million.
Blue Ridge Capital kept its position in Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ:PCLN) unchanged during the first quarter at 291,000 shares that are worth $338.77 million as of March 31, 2015. Even though the Chief Executive Officer of Priceline, Darren Huston, has recently announced that the company will mainly focus on developing its current businesses rather than on making new acquisitions, it can be seen that Priceline has been expanding quite substantially lately. Only last year, Priceline Group made five new acquisitions intended to assist the development and growth of the company. Thus, it seems that the company will only benefit from the above-mentioned decision, as it will have more time now to fully integrate the newly-acquired companies. The stock is up nearly 3% since the beginning of 2015. Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital owns 1.33 million shares of Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ:PCLN), making it the largest shareholder in the company among the funds we track.
Finally, Blue Ridge Capital reduced its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 165,000 shares, reporting a stake of 1.95 million shares worth $261.96 million at the end of the most recent quarter. Shares of Thermo Fisher have increased by over 3% year-to-date and it has been riding a notable uptrend lately. The world leader in serving science has recently announced that it will pay a quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share on July 15, 2015. Therefore, the dividend is a clear sign that the company is in good financial health and doesn’t foresee any serious troubles along its way. Larry Robbins’ Glenview Capital is the largest investor in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) in our database, owning 6.91 million shares valued at $928.39 million.
Disclosure: None
