Illumina, Inc., Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc, Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc: Billionaire Halvorsen’s Top 3 Picks

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) was the second largest holding in Viking Global‘s equity portfolio, with a stake of 18.93 million shares. The company began trading on the NASDAQ at the beginning of 2015, following the merger of Alliance Boots GmbH and Walgreen Co. (NYSE:WAG). The merger will result in the creation of the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing company, by combining Walgreens’ drugstore chain, Boots’ position as a leader in the European pharmacy retail sector, and the global wholesale capacities of Alliance Healthcare. Although Viking Global is Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA)’s largest institutional investor amongst the funds we track, other investment firms are also betting on this stock. Barry Rosenstein’s Jana Partners for example has a stake of 13.75 million shares, accounting for almost 10% of its equity portfolio.

Billionaire Halvorsen was also bullish regarding Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) last quarter. The hedge fund still held a position of 9.07 million shares in the company, though it did reduce its exposure by 890,600 shares during the fourth quarter. The stock has performed rather well, gaining almost 26% in 2014, and seeing share prices grow by an additional 18% year-to-date. The equity is actually trading around its 52-week high of $170.20 per share, while numerous analysts have set a price target of $200 for the stock in 2015. Jeffrey Ubben’s ValueAct Capital is certainly optimistic regarding Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) as well, with it also among that fund’s top three picks last quarter. In fact, Mr. Ubben was appointed to the company’s board of directors and the investment firm holds an activist position of 19.38 million shares.

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