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.
Another long term pick in Robertson’s portfolio has been $28 billion market cap pharmaceutical company Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX). Valeant’s stock price has nearly doubled in the last year. The company was unprofitable in the first quarter of 2013, despite revenue growing 25% versus a year earlier, but apparently the markets believe that the prospects for its products are improving and their optimism is driving the stock higher. Billionaire (and Tiger Cub) Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital initiated a position of 4.9 million shares in Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) between January and March (research more stocks Mandel was buying).
We’ve mentioned Robertson’s bullishness on credit card stocks, and in fact Visa Inc (NYSE:V), Mastercard’s closest peer, has been another long term stock pick. As with Mastercard, Visa Inc (NYSE:V) is priced for high growth- it is valued at 22 times forward earnings estimates. The company’s pretax income was up 15% in its most recent quarter compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year (earnings were down only on a higher effective tax rate), but we still think that we’d want to wait for more info at that pricing. Fisher Asset Management, managed by billionaire Ken Fisher, reported a position of 3.4 million shares.
The filing disclosed ownership of about 270,000 shares of QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), which had also been a significant position in the billionaire’s portfolio in Q1 2011. The company’s sales and earnings from continuing operations have been growing strongly, and at a trailing P/E of 17 QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) could certainly have upside potential. Analyst forecasts imply a forward earnings multiple of only 13 and a five-year PEG ratio of 0.8. Billionaire Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global- another Tiger Cub fund- disclosed ownership of 8.6 million shares in its most recent 13F (see Halvorsen’s stock picks).
Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.
