Billionaire Barry Rosenstein’s Equity Picks Posted a 3.8% Drop In Q1

Founded in 2001, Barry Rosenstein‘s JANA Partners has reportedly delivered 23% annual returns since its inception. However, during the first three months of this year many of the fund’s equity picks struggled to stay in green territory, continuing a trend from 2015 that saw JANA post a very rare down year. The 29 holdings in the firm’s portfolio at the end of December in companies with a market capitalization of at least $1.00 billion, lost 3.8% in the first quarter in weighted average terms, based on the size of those positions in JANA’s portfolio on December 31. In this article we’ll take a closer look at the latest developments and performance of some of those stocks.

Our research at Insider Monkey determined that following the small-cap stocks that hedge funds are collectively bullish on can help a smaller investor beat the S&P 500 by around 95 basis points per month (see more details here).

#5 Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC)

 – Shares Owned by JANA Partners (as of December 31): 2.35 Million

 – Value of Holding (as of December 31): $436.90 Million

The stock price of the second-largest cable company in the U.S rose by 11% during the first quarter, representing one of the better performing stocks in Mr. Rosenstein’s portfolio last quarter. After a lengthy two-year regulatory review, it seems that the Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) and Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) merger might not be too far away, which has considerably improved the investor sentiment surrounding the former company, leading to the recent gains in its stock. Eric W. Mandelblatt‘s Soroban Capital Partners hiked its stake in Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) by 8% to 8.41 million shares during the October-to-December period.

#4 QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM)

 – Shares Owned by JANA Partners (as of December 31): 9.21 Million

 – Value of Holding (as of December 31): $460.47 Million

JANA reduced its QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) holding by 67% during the fourth quarter. The stock was up slightly, by 1.3%, in the first three months of this year. Just recently the $75 billion technology company was downgraded by Barclays to ‘Equal Weight’ from ‘Overweight’ and the price target on it cut to $50 from $55. The development came on the heels of reports that Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) won a portion of iPhone 7 modem orders, which will put pricing pressure on Qualcomm, the previous sole supplier of these modems. Orbis Investment Management, which is led by William B. Gray, was bullish on QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) during the fourth quarter as it boosted its holding by 35% to 19.22 million shares.

Head to the next page to check out three more top stocks picks of the billionaire hedgie along with their recent performance.

#3 Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

 – Shares Owned by JANA Partners (as of December 31): 9.92 Million

 – Value of Holding (as of December 31): $550.6 Million

During the fourth trimester JANA uplifted its Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) holding by a hefty 28%. The bet hasn’t paid off yet, as the stock traded nearly sideways in the first quarter. The software giant recently partnered with Toyota to deliver cutting edge artificial intelligence features to the company’s cars. Moreover, Microsoft also recently formed a partnership with R3, a group of 43 financial institutions, with regards to the development of blockchain technology, which has gained considerable traction because of the rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Jeffrey Ubben‘s ValueAct Capital holds more than 56.62 million shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) as of December 31.

  #2 Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA)

 – Shares Owned by JANA Partners (as of December 31): 12.3 Million

 – Value of Holding (as of December 31): $1.04 Billion

JANA has held a stake in the largest U.S drugstore chain since the third quarter of 2013, a holding that was trimmed by 10% during the fourth quarter. On a year-to-date basis the stock is up by 1.36%, while the company awaits regulatory approval for its $9.4 billion acquisition of Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD). However, just like the rest of the pharma industry, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) has been facing declining gross margins for the last two years, mostly owing to lower reimbursement rates from health insurers and the government. Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global was cooling on Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA)’s future prospects during the fourth quarter, as it reduced its stake in the company by 46% to 12.77 million shares.

 #1 ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG)

 – Shares Owned by JANA Partners (as of December 31): 28.63 Million

 – Value of Holding (as of December 31): $1.21 Billion

Shares of the $20 billion packaged food company, in which JANA cut its stake by 6% during the fourth trimester, have risen by about 7.7% so far this year. The firm took an activist stake in the company in June of last year and shares are up by more than 21% since then. ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG) is currently working on a $300 million restructuring plan, the savings from which are expected to be fully realized by 2018. The company also recently announced that it too will place labels on foods that have GMOs in them, joining the growing number of food companies in this category. Ken Griffin‘s Citadel Investment Group holds about 5.57 million shares of ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE:CAG) as of the end of 2015.

Disclosure: None