Domain Names, Airlines, and Pizza, Oh My! Billionaire Jim Simons’ Top Mid-Cap Picks

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Renaissance Technologies increased its equity holdings in Verisign Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 316,600 shares during the latest quarter, lifting the overall position to 4.88 million shares valued at approximately $326.89 million. The share price of Verisign has dropped throughout the last few weeks as the company reported earnings per share of $0.74, slightly below analysts’ estimates of $0.75 per share, while quarterly revenue of $258.42 million was also slightly short of analysts’ estimates of $259.1 million. Nonetheless, Verisign Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) has been making quite a run since the beginning of the year and the Internet security and domain name registration company remains a strong value play in the eyes of Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, who holds 12.99 million shares.

Renaissance Technologies also increased its stake slightly in Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (NYSE:HII), to 1.69 million shares valued at $236.64 million as of March 31, an increase of 2% to the holding. Although Huntington Ingalls Industries disappointed with its declining earnings in the first quarter, the company’s financial performance might be turning around as there is talk that the years of flat to lower U.S. Department of Defense budgets may be coming to an end. Since Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company, designing, building and repairing ships primarily  for the U.S. Navy, it would stand to benefit greatly from increased government defense spending. Some of the funds that still own relatively large stakes in Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (NYSE:HII) include Joel Greenblatt‘s Gotham Asset Management, as well as Melvin Capital Management.

Disclosure: None

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