Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN): Apex Capital Was Right Betting On Retailer; See Fund’s Other Top Picks

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According to the last 13F filing, Apex Capital owns 225,100 shares of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), up by 26% on the quarter, the value of the stake amounting to $76.90 million. Netflix represented the largest stake in terms of value since the second quarter of last year. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is well-positioned for long-term growth as the company last year expanded its streaming services across several European countries and plans further expansion in the near future. On the back of expansion, the company’s revenues and earnings surged and amounted to $5.51 billion for 2014, versus $4.38 billion a year earlier, while earnings jumped to $4.32 from $1.85. Activist investor Carl Icahn is one of the top shareholders of Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), holding 1.41 million shares as of the end of 2014. Amid issues with ‘net neutrality‘, Mr. Icahn has been selling shares of Neflix since the last quarter of 2013, a move that he admitted he regrets in an interview earlier this year.

The fund also increased its stake in Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS) by 28% on the quarter to 893,000 shares, valued at $67.10 million. Michael Kors is another retailer, although its stock hasn’t performed so well in comparison to Urban Outfitters and lost 34% in the last 52 weeks. The company recently took another hit as an anlyst report from Sterne Agee stated that the company’s sales might have slowed down on the back of bad weather. The analyst also lowered its earnings and revenue estimate and cut the price target to $72.00 from $76.00, keeping ‘Neutral’ rating. Moreover, Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS)’s online sales might also be affected from weather as recently the rooftop of one of the company’s e-commerce distribution warehouses collapsed because of heavy snow. Both issues however look like will have a temporary impact on the retailer’s sales. So far, among funds that we track, the largest shareholder of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS) is Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital, which owns 11.08 million shares as of the end of 2014 (down by 30% on the quarter).

In MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), that has been discussed earlier, Apex Capital owns around 329,200 shares, valued at $63.69 million. The fund cut its stake in the company by 16% during the fourth quarter, the only reduction made among the fund’s top seven largest holdings. MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR) is a $1.90 billion provider of enterprise software platforms for business intelligence. Apex is the second-largest shareholder among funds that we track, trailing Ricky Sandler‘s Eminence Capital with 846,000 shares.

Disclosure: none

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