Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Most Bullish Q3 Moves

Ken Fisher is an American billionaire, author and investment analyst, who runs the hedge fund Fisher Asset Management. Mr. Fisher’s total worth stands at $3.5 billion according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires’ data. Mr. Fisher has also authored 11 books and writes regularly for Forbes.

According to its latest 13F filing, Fisher Asset Management oversees a public equity portfolio containing assets valued at $54.28 billion as of the end of September. In this article, we’ll take a look at five of Fisher Asset Management’s most bullish moves made during the third quarter, in which it invested a great deal of money.

Through extensive research that covered the portfolios of several hundred large investors between 1999 and 2012, we determined that following the small-cap stocks that large money managers are collectively bullish on, can generate monthly returns nearly 1.0 percentage points above the market (see the details here).

Life Storage Inc (NYSE:LSI)

– Shares Owned by Fisher Asset Management (as of September 30): 899,361

– Value of Fisher Asset Management’s Holding (as of September 30):  $79.99 million

Life Storage Inc (NYSE:LSI) is a new arrival in Fisher Asset Management’s portfolio, as the fund reported a stake worth $79.99 million in the the real estate investment trust. Life Storage’s stock has declined by nearly 19% year-to-date and sports a dividend of 4.35%. In September, Citigroup upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ and raised its price target to $105 from $100. The company reported better-than-expected revenue for the previous five quarters and for the last one the company is scheduled to report its results on November 2 and analysts expect a revenue of $122.29 million and EPS of $1.28.

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF)

– Shares Owned by Fisher Asset Management (as of September 30): 1.38 million

– Value of Fisher Asset Management’s Holding (as of September 30): $99.37 million

Fisher Asset Management bought over 1.18 million shares of Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF) in the third quarter, ending the period with a stake containing 1.38 million shares. Recently, Barclays PLC reiterated its ‘Overweight’ rating and $80 price target on the Virginia-based credit card company. Capital One Financial earned $1.69 per share in the second quarter, less than the estimated $1.86. The stock is down by 1.54% so far this year. Capital One Financial Corporation recently announced its acquisition of, Paribus, a price tracking service which helps online shoppers get automatic refunds when prices drop on items they purchased. Apart from Fisher Asset Management, 45 funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF) at the end of the second quarter.

On the next page, we’ll discuss three other Ken Fisher’s biggest moves of the third quarter.

– Shares Owned by Fisher Asset Management (as of September 30): 19.49 million

– Value of Fisher Asset Management’s Holding (as of September 30): $119.03 million

Switzerland-based luxury products company Richemont (CFRUY) was another favorite of Ken Fisher during the third quarter. The investor’s fund acquired over 14.45 million shares of the OTC stock, upping its stake in the firm by a whopping 287%. Last month, Richemont said it expects a 45% drop in operating profits for the first half of 2016, as the company grapples with an overall decline in sales in the industry. Richemont’s watches sales have been damaged in China as a result of crackdown against corruption by the government. Moreover, a downward spiral in shopping trends in Europe after terrorist attacks is also affecting the company’s financial outlook. The stock is down by over 8% so far this year. Just two funds in our database were long Richemont (CFRUY) at the end of the second quarter.

NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI)

– Shares Owned by Fisher Asset Management (as of September 30): 1.72 million

– Value of Fisher Asset Management’s Holding (as of September 30): $175.43 million

Ken Fisher’s fund boosted its stake in Netherlands-based semiconductor company NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) by 115% as it acquired 922,990 new shares of the company in the third quarter, ending the quarter with a total of 1.72 million NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) shares. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that California-based QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) is in talks to acquire NXP for about $30 billion with a possible deal to be announced in the next couple of months. NXP’s stock skyrocketed by 17% on the back of the news. The stock is up by over 20% so far this year. On Thursday, the European Commission (EC) approved the transaction under which NXP divests its Standard Products business, Nexperia, to a consortium of financial investors consisting of Beijing Jianguang Asset Management and Wise Road Capital Ltd. A total of 57 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had amassed approximately $1.40 billion worth of NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI)’s shares at the end of June.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS)

– Shares Owned by Fisher Asset Management (as of September 30): 1.97 million

– Value of Fisher Asset Management’s Holding (as of September 30): $318 million

Fisher Asset Management acquired over 1.72 million shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) in the third quarter, ending the period with approximately 1.97 million shares of the company. On Thursday, the New York based finance giant Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) launched new online lending business ‘Marcus’, which will offer uncollateralized personal loans to people to help them manage their credit card debt. Last month, Reuters reported that Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) was cutting around 30% of its 300 investment banking jobs in Asia. The company’s investment revenue tumbled 11% $1.79 billion in the second quarter, mainly due to a slowdown in activity in Asia. The stock has lost over 7% in value year-to-date. At the end of the second quarter, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owned 10.96 million shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS).

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