Phillips 66, Marathon Petroleum Corp, LyondellBasell Industries: D E Shaw Bullish On Energy Stocks

In third spot comes LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB), which D E Shaw increased by 43% last quarter to 9.70 million shares. The chemicals company has proven popular among billionaire hedge fund managers we track, ranking as one of their most popular stocks in the basic industries sector (it also has ties to the energy sector).  George Soros is one of those billionaires, opening a new 2.83 million share stake in the company last quarter.

LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) was flat in 2014, but another stock on the move upwards in 2015, up 9.59% year-to-date, despite reporting a 7.6% dip in revenue for the fourth quarter earlier this month, which was partially due to an inventory-adjustment charge. LyondellBasell is up 228.3% since emerging from bankruptcy nearly five years ago.

Next is Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), in which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust has been heavily invested for years, through large donations of shares from Buffett. D E Shaw trimmed its position in Berkshire by 29% last quarter, to 4.65 million shares. Buffett’s holding company, which owns a number of subsidiaries including Fruit of the Loom, GEICO, and Dairy Queen, returned 27.25% in 2014, but is down slightly in 2015.

Lastly is Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), which D E Shaw also trimmed its exposure to last quarter, to 13.57 million shares, down 31%. D E Shaw’s top five moves were all perfectly executed it seems, as Yahoo! is also down year-to-date, quite heavily in fact, at 12.12% on weakness in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), of which they own a lucrative (but now less so) stake. Alibaba is down 17.34% year-to-date.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) announced in late January that it would spinoff its Alibaba stake into a separate company, and give its shares to investors, providing them with a tax-free means of accessing the value of that investment. However, with the tumble of Alibaba’s shares, the gains from that move have largely been wiped out, compared to if Yahoo! had simply sold its stake earlier at a maximized value.

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