Intel Corporation (INTC) & More: $67 Million Equity Portfolio’s Favorites Might Surprise You

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At number four is Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT), which provides actionable intelligence solutions and services for security intelligence and workforce optimization. The company recently reported better than expected Q4 earnings and had its price target of $35.00 raised to $40.00 by Deutsche Bank.

The stock’s price is up 8% on the year, but its metrics, however, are less encouraging. Verint’s price-to-book ratio of 7.7x is nearly twice the industry average of 4x, and it is carrying a very heavy debt load.  Competitor SAP AG may also be priced expensively at 5 times its book value, but revenue growth is much stronger than Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT), and SAP carries no debt.

Rounding out the top five, we have Echo Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ECTE). With 2.1 million shares, Platinum is the largest holder in Echo of the 450-plus hedge funds we track, having added the stock to its 13F portfolio during the third quarter of 2011. In March, the company was granted a patent for its Prelude Skinprep System, a device and method for prepping the skin to allow for analyte extraction or drug delivery.

The news drove the stock price 13% higher at one point, but shares of Echo are still down 40% on the year. One reason for this declination may be that Q4 revenue for the company is down 98% year-over-year, while R&D costs have skyrocketed by 128% comparatively.

Another issue may be much simpler. Due to the fact that Echo’s share price has traded below the $1.00 mark for 30 consecutive business days, it risks being de-listed from the NASDAQ. This isn’t a particular bullish signal for any investor, no matter his or her philosophy.

Final thoughts

Platinum Management clearly faces some very serious challenges given the outlook for the top five securities in its 13F portfolio, which represents a little over half of the entire balance, according to its latest filing with the SEC. With the exception of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Navidea, this top five is not likely to put in a strong performance, at least for the next quarter. We’d still recommend watching Platinum though; click here to do so.

Disclosure: none

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