Billionaire George Soros’ Top Long-Term Holdings

One of the largest hedge funds around, Soros Fund Management is a family office that manages approximately $30 billion of George Soros‘ money. Half of that, however, is tied up in ventures with other investment funds. In August 2015, George Soros announced the departure of the fund’s previous chief investment officer, Scott Bessent, who went on to start his own fund – Key Square Group. Bessent was replaced by Ted Burdick, who joined the firm in 2000 as an analyst and had been running the firm’s distressed debt and arbitrage operations since 2010. Founded in 1969, Soros Fund Management is one of the most profitable hedge fund managers, having returned an average of 20% per year since inception. At the end of the 2015 fourth quarter, the fund’s equity portfolio carried an estimated market value of $6.05 billion, with a big emphasis on technology and financial stocks. In this article, however, we’ll take a look at some of the top stock picks Soros Fund Management has been holding the longest.

Through extensive research, we have determined that the due diligence that these investors employ, as well as their long-term focus makes them perfect targets to emulate. However, the results of our analysis have also shown that the small-cap picks of these funds can generate much better returns, with the 15 most popular small-cap stocks beating the market by an average of 95 basis points per month (read more details here).

Soros Fund Management’s largest equity position, Adecoagro SA (NYSE:AGRO), is also the fund’s top long term investment. The position was first reported by the fund at the end of the 2011 first quarter and has since grown to approximately 25.9 million shares. Soros’ management team did not make any changes to this position during the fourth quarter of 2015. At the end of the last year, roughly 39% of Adecoagro SA (NYSE:AGRO) common stock was held by 15 funds from our database. The stock is currently trading at a trailing Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio of 376, a massive multiplier when compared to the industry average of 14.40 as reported by Yahoo! Finance. On March 17, Adecoagro SA (NYSE:AGRO) issued its financial report for the fiscal fourth quarter and reported a profit of $446,000. On a per share basis, earnings amount to less than $0.01, while revenues came in at $174.2 million.

During the fourth quarter, Soros Fund Management trimmed by 3% its holding of Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS), another long-term bet. The position was established during the first quarter of 2013 and currently amounts to 3.38 million shares, which were valued at a little over $162 million at the end of December. The hedge fund sentiment towards Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS) (among the funds in our database) slightly deteriorated during the fourth quarter, with the number of long positions decreasing to 54, from 60 a quarter before. Billionaire Bill Ackman, the manager of Pershing Square, is also betting big on Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS), as his fund holds 41.8 million shares of the pharmaceutical company, unchanged over the quarter. A developer of medicine and vaccinations for pets and livestock, the company was previously a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), but was spun off in 2013. Pfizer later sold its majority stake in the company.

Turn the page to find out more about three other long-term bets made by Soros Fund Management.

Although Soros Fund’s team had been dumping shares of EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT)  for the most of 2015, they made a complete U-turn in the fourth quarter and bought approximately 1.36 million shares. According to the fund’s latest 13F filing, it now holds 1.45 million shares worth $75.8 million. Hedge fund interest towards EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) has cooled down a bit during the last quarter of 2015, as the number of funds invested dropped to 31 from 39. Billionaire Ken Griffin‘s Citadel Investment Group holds the largest stake in EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT) among the funds we follow, having reported ownership of 3.32 million shares in its latest 13F filing, down by 4% over the quarter. Robert Polak of Anchor Bolt Capital, on the other hand, felt it was a good time to buy the stock and has boosted his fund’s investment by 51% to 1.72 million shares.

Soros Fund Management first reported a stake in DISH Network Corp (NASDAQ:DISH)  as of the end of the first quarter of 2013. In its latest 13F filing, the fund indicated ownership of a little over 1.3 million shares, having made a small addition to the position. Approximately 12% of DISH Network Corp (NASDAQ:DISH) outstanding stock was held by 52 funds from our database heading into 2016, down from 53 funds a quarter earlier. Boykin Curry of Eagle Capital is also a long-time fan of DISH Network Corp (NASDAQ:DISH), having established his position during the second quarter of 2013. According to its latest 13F filing, Eagle Capital Management held 14.6 million shares of DISH Network at the end of December 2015, up by 9% on the quarter. Jason Karp is also optimistic about the prospects of the company, having increased Tourbillon Capital Partners’ stake by nearly 50% to 5.29 million shares.

Churchill Downs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHDN) is another long term bet made by Soros Fund’s management team, dating back to the fourth quarter of 2011. At the end of the quarter, the fund’s holding amounted to 387,381 shares reportedly worth $54.8 million. Churchill Downs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHDN) is not a very popular stock among the hedge funds followed by Insider Monkey, with only 2.8% of them having reported a stake as of the end of December. Still, these investors hold more than a third of the company’s common stock. Having started as a parent company of a horse racetrack, Churchill Downs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHDN) now runs several racetracks, a number of casinos and also offers online betting services. The company has a market cap of $2.4 billion and pays an annual dividend of $1.15 per share, providing investors with a yield of 0.8%. The stock is currently trading at a P/E ratio of 39.64, a tad larger than the industry average of 31.20. In its latest quarterly report, the company posted $272.4 million in revenues and earnings of $0.43 per share, beating analysts’ expectations.

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