In this article, we discuss billionaire Stephen Mandel’s top 5 stock picks. For Mandel’s investment philosophy and his comments on certain stocks, please see Billionaire Stephen Mandel’s Top 10 Stock Picks.
5. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX)
Value: $1,325,935,000
Percent of Stephen Mandel’s 13F Portfolio: 4.81%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 116
Netflix ranks 5th on the list of billionaire Stephen Mandel’s top 10 stock picks. Lone Pine Capital increased its hold in the company by 9% in the fourth quarter, entering 2021 with 2.45 million shares of the company, worth $1.33 billion. Investment firm Benchmark recently cut its price target on Netflix, adding that the company will have to produce compelling content on a monthly basis to stop customer churn. The firm, which has a Sell rating for Netflix, cut its price target for the streaming company to $472 from $485.
With a $1.99 billion stake in Netflix, Fisher Asset Management owns 3.7 million shares of the company as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. Our database shows that 116 hedge funds held stakes in Netflix as of the end of the fourth quarter, versus 104 funds in the third quarter. NFLX ranks 14th in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds: 2020 Q4 Rankings.
Miller Value Partners, in their Q4 2020 investor letter, said Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was added in their portfolio in the fourth quarter of 2020. Here is what Miller Value Partners has to say about Netflix, Inc. in their Q4 2020 investor letter:
“Lastly, we added a small position to Netflix after the disappointment following 3Q results. Overall, it’s getting more difficult to find investment opportunities in the very high growth areas that meet our standards for attractive value. On the other hand, we continue to find opportunities in more value-oriented areas of the market. We would expect the portfolio to migrate in this direction.”
4. Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN)
Value: $1,363,828,000
Percent of Stephen Mandel’s 13F Portfolio: 4.95%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 55
Global Payments is a Georgia-based company that offers payment processing services to merchants. The company allows merchants to accept debit, credit cards and other forms of payment methods in exchange of fees. The company recently partnered with Google for a digital merchants solution, under which it will migrate its merchant acquiring technology to Google Cloud. It will also provide merchant acquisition services to Google. The stock rallied after the company recently upped its repurchase authorization to $1.5 billion.
A total of 55 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish GPN at the end of the fourth quarter, down from 57 funds a quarter earlier.
3. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Value: $1,404,025,000
Percent of Stephen Mandel’s 13F Portfolio: 5.1%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 258
Microsoft is one of the most popular stocks among the 887 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey. As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, 258 funds held stakes in the company, compared to 234 funds a quarter earlier. On March 16, MSFT declared a quarterly dividend of $0.56 per share.
MSFT ranks 2nd in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds: 2020 Q4 Rankings.
2. Coupa Software Incorporated (NASDAQ: COUP)
Value: $1,430,439,000
Percent of Stephen Mandel’s 13F Portfolio: 5.19%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 62
Coupa Software ranks 2nd on the list of billionaire Stephen Mandel’s top 10 stock picks. The company makes software and tools that help businesses increase visibility into their spending and expenses. Some famous software products made by the company include Ariba, Tradeshift, Tipalti and Ivalua. In the fourth quarter, the company’s revenue jumped a whopping 47% to $163.54 million. The company also posted a surprise profit of $0.17 per share, as analysts were expecting a loss of $0.28 per share.
Lone Pine Capital is one of the 62 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey having stakes in COUP at the end of the fourth quarter. The fund owns over 4.2 million shares of the company.
1. Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP)
Value: $2,032,179,000
Percent of Stephen Mandel’s 13F Portfolio: 7.38%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 90
Shopify Inc. is the largest stock holding in Stephen Mandel’s portfolio. The billionaire has a $2.03 billion stake in the company. Shopify’s platform is used by over 1 million merchants to sell a diverse range of items including clothing, books, food, fashion products and more.
Hedge funds are showing an increased interest in Shopify. In the fourth quarter of 2020, there were 90 hedge funds that hold a position in Shopify compared to 81 funds in the third quarter. The biggest stakeholder of the company is Lone Pine Capital, with 7.8 million shares, worth $2.03 billion.
You can also take a peek at Billionaire Carl Icahn’s Top 10 Picks and Cathie Wood’s Top 10 Stock Picks.
