Amazon (AMZN), Charter Communications (CHTR) And 3 Other Hot Stocks That Billionaire Ken Griffin Is Bullish On

While many hedge funds were deep in the red in 2015, Ken Griffin‘s Citadel Investment Group posted double-digit returns. The company’s main funds posted a return of 12.6% with $15 billion in assets under management, according to a report by Bloomberg. Citadel managed that by dividing funds among a number of teams that invested in a wide range of markets, while the biggest losers had concentrated portfolios and were stung by poor performers like Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) and SunEdison Inc.

According to reports from Ken Griffin’s recent divorce proceedings, the famous hedge fund manager has a gross monthly salary of nearly $100 million, or roughly $68.5 million after taxes. A man that gets paid this much to manage assets is definitely worthy of our time. So, in this article, we’ll look at some of the most bullish moves made by the fund last quarter, according to its latest 13F filing.

Imitating hedge funds and other institutional investors can help identify some of the most profitable stocks on the market. However, our extensive research that covered the period between 1999 and 2012, showed that the best approach is to follow these investors into their small-cap stocks. Our backtests showed that the 15 most popular small-cap stocks among hedge funds managed to generate a monthly alpha of 81 basis points, versus an alpha of 0.7 percentage points posted by their top 50 large-cap picks (see more details here).

Big Bet On Cable

Number five on our list of Citadel’s most bullish moves is Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), now the second-largest cable operator in the United States. During the second quarter, the fund’s stake was increased by 245% to 1.41 million shares worth $322 million. Following the takeover of Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) became one of the favorite stocks among the hedge funds followed by Insider Monkey. At the end of June, 134 of those funds were invested in the company, up from 98 a quarter before. Chase Coleman, the manager of Tiger Global Management, is also bullish on this stock, having more than doubled his bet on it to 4.25 million shares, making it his fund’s second-largest public equity position at the end of the quarter. Through the acquisition of Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) has joined the big boys of the cable business. For the second quarter, the company posted earnings of $15.17 per share on the back of $6.16 billion in revenue. Charter Communications said its second quarter performance was driven by growth in internet, commercial and video revenue.

Biotech Poised for Rebound?

Next up is Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB), the biotechnology company that develops treatments for neurodegenerative, hematologic and autoimmune diseases. According to its 13F filing, Citadel boosted its holding in the stock by 300% over the course of the second quarter, having indicated ownership of 1.36 million Biogen shares in its latest 13F filing, a position valued at approximately $328 million. Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB)’s drug Tecfidera is a leader in the $19 billion multiple sclerosis drug market. In the second quarter, the company registered a 12% increase in sales of Tecfidera despite FDA warnings regarding some of the side effects of the drug. Biogen also has two major drug candidates for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy which are still in the testing phase. Overall, hedge fund interest in Biogen Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB) was on the rise in the second quarter, as the number of hedge funds in our system long the stock jumped to 73 at the end of the second quarter, from 64 registered three months earlier. Tiger Cub Andres Halvorsen is also betting big on this stock, having increased his fund’s holding by 1,291% to 3.21 million shares worth close to $776 million in the quarter.

Turn the page to take a look at Ken Griffin’s three most bullish second quarter moves.

Turnaround Nearly Complete

Ken Griffin and his team also decided to step up their interest in Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) during the second quarter, as Citadel hiked its position in the stock by 1,574% to 14.7 million shares worth some $343 million. Plagued by what is considered one of the worst mergers in history, Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, as it is getting closer to settling all of the law suits against Guidant, a company it bought in 2006 for $27 billion. So far this year, the stock has been on a solid uptrend, advancing by 28%. For the second quarter, Boston Scientific posted $2.13 billion in revenue, up by 15% year-over-year, and adjusted earnings of $0.27 per share, which were in-line with analysts’ consensus estimate. Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) registered a boost in popularity among the funds in our database in the second quarter, as the number of funds holding a stake in the company increased to 47 by the end of June, from 35 at the end of March. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies also upped its bet on Boston Scientific, having amassed 4.9 million shares by the end of June, a position valued at $114.5 million.

Hedge Funds Just Love Amazon

Online e-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was also on Citadel’s shopping list, as the fund’s management team increased their bet on the stock by 600% to 537,717 shares valued at $385 million during the second quarter. At the end of that quarter, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was the third-most popular stock among the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, being found in the equity portfolios of 145 of those funds, up from 133 registered as of the end of the first quarter. Billionaire Ken Fisher chose to lock in some profits from his bet on Amazon, having reduced his fund’s holding by 21% to 1.98 million shares worth $1.49 billion. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) continues to reach record highs, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world. The company’s cloud business is a key driver behind the recent performance, as Amazon’s Web Services grew by 58% in the latest quarter, generating $2.89 billion in revenue for the company. Amazon has also been investing heavily in its Prime membership services, offering free access to a wide range of media content. Why are they doing that? Well, because Prime members tend to spend twice as much on stuff sold by Amazon as non-Prime members do.

Very Optimistic About FIS

Sitting pretty on top is Fidelity National Information Services Inc (NYSE:FIS), one of the world’s top financial technology companies. Ken Griffin and his aides made a notable bullish move on the stock during the second quarter, boosting their investment in it by 4,470% to 5.25 million shares valued at $387 million at the end of June. Fidelity National Information Services Inc (NYSE:FIS) has a market cap of $25 billion and pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share, providing investors with a 1.36% annual yield. At the end of June, the company reported second quarter results of adjusted earnings of $0.90 per share on the back of $2.31 billion in revenue. Analysts, on the other hand, had projected $2.33 billion in revenue and earnings of $0.87 per share. The stock got a boost from the news that Fidelity National upped its fiscal year 2016 profit guidance to a range of $3.75-to-$3.85 per share, from prior estimates of $3.70-to-$3.80, while analysts had predicted $3.80. At the end of the second quarter, roughly 13% of Fidelity National Information Services Inc (NYSE:FIS)’s common stock was held by 47 of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, down from 49 recorded a quarter before. William Von Mueffling’s Cantillon Capital Management held the largest stake in the company among those funds, having indicated ownership of 7.54 million shares of it in the fund’s latest 13F filing.

Disclosure: None