Billionaire Julian Robertson’s Long Term Stock Picks Include Google Inc (GOOG)

In May, billionaire Julian Robertson filed his 13F with the SEC, disclosing many of his long equity positions as of the end of March. Obviously this information is a bit old by now, but we think there are still a couple ways for investors to make use of 13Fs. For one, it’s possible to use these filings to help develop investment strategies; we have found, for example, that the most popular small cap stocks among hedge funds earn an average excess return of 18 percentage points per year. We can also use our database of filings to see which stocks Robertson has owned for at least two years; chances are that he still has most of these names in his portfolio, and investors can look through them for potential picks. Read on for our quick take on the five largest holdings in Robertson’s most recent 13F which he owned at least $10 million of as of the end of March 2011 or see the full list of stocks the billionaire has owned over time.

The legendary founder of Tiger Management’s top pick from the filing was Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), with about 34,000 shares in his portfolio. In the first quarter of 2013 Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) rivaled Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in our list of the most popular stocks among hedge funds (check out the full top ten list). Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been reporting double-digit growth rates on the bottom line; the company’s advertising business is a star performer, and the Motorola Mobility acquisition is becoming integrated into the overall operation. At a forward earnings multiple of 17 it isn’t cheap, but could certainly grow enough to justify that valuation.

Robertson has long been a fan of credit card stocks, and he owned close to 45,000 shares of Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) at the beginning of April of this year as well as a large position two years prior. The two brand name credit card companies are priced at premium valuations in the market; Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) trades at 26 times its trailing earnings. Even with revenue and earnings up about 10% compared to a year ago, that doesn’t seem too attractive to us. Tiger Global Management, whose mangers include billionaire Tiger Cub Chase Coleman, owed about 630,000 shares according to its own 13F (find Tiger Global’s favorite stocks).