Billionaire Stephen Mandel’s Top Picks: Priceline Group Inc (PCLN), JD.Com Inc (ADR) (JD), Mastercard Inc (MA) & Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (VRX)

On the third spot is Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA), in which Lone Pine Capital cut its stake to 12.97 million shares, worth $1.12 billion, from 20.03 million shares held earlier. The stock price of the company has risen by 26.43% since May 2014. Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) has recently agreed to acquire Applied Predictive Technologies Inc. for $600 million. This acquisition is part of the company’s plans to expand technology offerings for merchants. The deal is likely to be completed in the second quarter of 2015. The company has also witnessed some insider trading as Ajay Banga, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, unloaded 99,870 shares of the company at an average price of $91.5 per share. Other investors of Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) include Tom Russo’s Gardner Russo & Gardner, which owns 10.02 million shares as of the end of the first quarter.

On the fourth and last spot is Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), a $77-billion multinational specialty pharmaceutical company. Valeant posted first-quarter 2015 net income of $73.7 million, versus a net loss of $22.6 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue for the quarter rose by 16% to $2.2 billion from $1.9 billion a year ago. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX)’s stock advanced by 80.24% over the last year, and jumped by 38.79% during the first quarter. Valeant seems be to a favorite stock of many investors. In the first quarter of 2015, billionaire Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square started a new position in Valeant, owning 19.47 million shares, valued at $3.87 billion.

Disclosure: none