Moving on, PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) was the only stock among Bridgewater’s 13 largest equity holdings in which it reduced its stake during the fourth quarter, by 3% to 282,641 shares. After ending the first quarter with gains of 3.3%, PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) has scaled to new heights this month, recently making its lifetime high of $103.99. The company is expected to report its first quarter numbers on April 20 and the consensus among analysts is for it to report EPS of $0.81 on revenue of $11.85 billion, which would be slightly lower than the EPS of $0.83 on revenue of $12.22 billion that it reported for the same quarter a year earlier. On March 30, PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) announced that three of its divisions – North America Beverages, Frito-Lay North America, and Quaker Foods North America – will now be headed by Albert P. Carey. Due to this announcement, speculation is rife on the Street that Mr. Carey is likely to succeed PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)’s current CEO, Indra Nooyi, in the future. Billionaire Mario Gabelli‘s GAMCO Investors also reduced its stake in the beverage giant marginally during the fourth quarter, by 2% to 479,823 shares.
Canadian communications giant BCE Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BCE) is another major holding of Bridgewater Associates that is performing well this year. During the fourth quarter, the fund increased its stake in the company by 94% to 772,300 shares worth $29.72 million as of December 31. BCE Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BCE)’s stock has been on a consistent uptrend since mid-January, ending the first quarter up by 19.3%. The company recently increased its annual dividend payments by 5% to $2.09 per share, which translates into an attractive dividend yield of 4.6%. Last November, BCE Inc. acquired the sole rights to distribute HBO content in Canada, which analysts feel will boost the company’s market share even further in the coming quarters. They are also impressed by the consistent growth in ARPU (average revenue per user) the company has shown in the past few quarters. On February 5, analysts at Canaccord Genuity reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating on the stock, while upping their price target on it to $46.62 from $45.09. A notable investor that initiated a stake in BCE Inc. (USA) (NYSE:BCE) during the fourth quarter was billionaire Israel Englander‘s Millennium Management, which bought 123,261 shares of the company.
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Owing to Bridgewater Associates increasing its stake in the company by 20% to 327,452 shares during the fourth quarter, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) became the top stock pick of the fund going into 2016. The company unveiled some major products last month, including a 4.5-inch smartphone starting at $399, which was one of the reasons why its stock performed well and ended the first quarter with gains of 4.1%. Other reasons for the stock to have finally rise out of sub-$100 levels include an improving outlook among analysts for the company’s second quarter of fiscal year 2016 and the shift of investors’ focus from the iPhone 6s to the upcoming iPhone 7. On April 6, Needham & Company analyst Laura Martin initiated coverage on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock with a ‘Strong-Buy’ rating and $150 price target. In her note, Ms. Martin wrote:
“Our survey research concludes that iOS platform churn is only about 12% annually, suggesting fewer competitive pressures, higher pricing power, more predictable revenue streams, and a halo effect that drives sister-device sales and higher ancillary revenue than AAPL’s current share price implies.”
Chase Coleman‘s Tiger Global Management LLC was one of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey that initiated a stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, buying 10.6 million shares of the tech company.
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