Billionaire Steve Cohen Is Selling These 10 Stocks

Published March 16, 2022 at 9:21 am EDT Updated September 7, 2026 at 2:03 pm EDT

In this article, we’ll examine billionaire Steve Cohen’s portfolio management strategy and approach to investing in stocks. We’ll also review 10 stocks billionaire Steve Cohen is selling.

Steve Cohen, the founder of Point72 Asset Management, is one of the world’s leading hedge fund managers, boasting a proven track record of consistently beating benchmarks. Cohen graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and began his Wall Street career in 1978 at Gruntal & Co as a junior trader in the options arbitrage department. He made $8,000 in profits on the first day of trading and eventually helped the firm make $100,000 a day.

In 1992, he founded S.A.C. Capital Advisors, one of the most successful hedge funds of its era, averaging returns of 25% from 1992 to 2013. The firm traded 20 million shares daily in 1999, and by 2006 it accounted for 2% of the total stock market trading volume. Cohen founded Point72 Asset Management in 2014 after S.A.C. became the subject of an SEC insider trading investigation. Point72 uses multiple strategies to capitalize on profit-making opportunities, including long/short equity portfolios, fixed income strategies, and global quantitative investments. Point72 Asset Management returned over 9% last year.

Steve Cohen, who has a net worth of $11.8 billion, likes to take advantage of short-term price movements rather than holding stakes for the long term. During the December quarter, his firm initiated stakes in 403 stocks and dumped 359 positions, ending the quarter with $25 billion worth of 13F securities in its portfolio. The list of 10 stocks billionaire Steve Cohen is selling includes The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU), AT&T Inc., and Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI).

Furthermore, Cohen sold numerous high-growth stocks that had achieved strong gains over the past two years. Those stocks include Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL), and Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN). During the past two years, investors like Cohen have heavily favored growth stocks. Yet the billionaire’s exit strategy from some of some stocks seems to have been perfectly timed, as growth stocks like Oracle Corporation, PayPal Holdings, Inc., and Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) have plunged sharply in recent months.

Our Methodology

We analyzed Point72 Asset Management’s 13F filing with the SEC for the fourth quarter reporting period to uncover some of the most prominent stocks the fund sold during Q4. The following is the list of 10 stocks billionaire Steve Cohen is selling.

Note: All hedge fund data is based on the exclusive group of 900+ funds tracked by Insider Monkey that filed 13Fs for the Q4 2021 reporting period.

Steven Cohen of Point72 Asset Management

Billionaire Steve Cohen Is Selling These 10 Stocks

10. The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52

Cohen sold off his stake in The Boeing Company in the fourth quarter of 2021. Shares of The Boeing Company have plunged 13% so far in 2022, having failed to gain any momentum from the positive sentiments surrounding defense stocks following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In 2021, The Boeing Company generated $26 billion in revenue from its defense business segment, while revenue from its commercial planes business came in at $16 billion. It appears that investors have been reacting negatively to larger than expected losses from the aircraft maker. The Boeing Company posted a GAAP loss per share of $7.15 for the fourth quarter while its revenue of $14.7 billion also missed Wall Street expectations by $1.87 billion.

On the positive side, the company generated positive free cash flow of $494 million for the fourth quarter. The company has also been working on returning the 737 MAX to service globally in a safe manner. The 737 MAX has completed over 300,000 revenue flights since the FAA approved its return to service in November 2020, and its reliability remains above 99%.

Unlike tech growth stocks such as Oracle Corporation, PayPal Holdings, Inc., and Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN), The Boeing Company took a major hit from the various travel restrictions and pandemic related policies that were instituted around the world.

Of the 924 elite funds tracked by Insider Monkey that filed 13Fs for the December 31 reporting period, The Boeing Company was in 52 portfolios as of the end of the December quarter, flat compared to the previous quarter.

9. Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 55

Point72 Asset Management initiated a new position in Starbucks Corporation at the beginning of 2021 and sold the entire stake in the December quarter. Shares of Starbucks Corporation underperformed in 2021 and have fallen below the $100 level in 2022.

The latest selloff is partly attributed to the company’s lower than expected earnings for the December quarter. Its earnings per share of $0.72 missed analysts’ expectations of $0.80 Starbucks Corporation also slashed its outlook for fiscal 2022. The company anticipates GAAP earnings per share to drop by a 4% to 6% and adjusted earnings per share to rise by 8% to 10%. Previously, the coffee giant forecasted GAAP earnings per share to decline by 4% and adjusted earnings per share to jump by at least 10%.

Like Steve Cohen, other hedge funds are also looking less bullish about the fundamentals of Starbucks Corporation, as the number of long hedge fund positions declined over the past three straight quarters. As of December 2021, Starbucks Corporation was in 55 13F portfolios compared to 58 positions in the previous quarter.

In its fourth quarter investor letter, Polen Capital, an investment management firm, mentioned a few stocks, including Starbucks Corporation. Here is what Polen Capital stated:

“We trimmed Starbucks as a source of funding and to edge our weighting down. While the company has managed well through a difficult environment, we recognize that lockdowns are categorically challenging for this business. Starbucks has a robust mobile order and pay platform fueled by a sophisticated app as well as a strong loyalty program, but this doesn’t alter the fact that the store-based retail business is important to the company. As a result, we felt a smaller weighting was appropriate.”

8. Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 39

Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management dumped its entire stake in Baidu, Inc. during the December quarter. Baidu, Inc. is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in artificial intelligence and internet-related services.

Compared to high-growth stocks such as Oracle Corporation, PayPal Holdings, Inc., and Accenture plc (NSE:ACN), Baidu, Inc. was among the biggest laggards in 2021, as shares of Baidu, Inc. are down close to 50% over the past twelve months. On the positive side, the internet search company has successfully been transforming its business model from an online marketing company to a hard-tech supplier in fields such as self-driving cars, cloud computing, and chips.

The number of long hedge fund positions in Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) has fallen sharply for the past three successive quarters. As of December 31, 39 hedge funds were bullish about the company compared to 89 at the end of the first quarter of 2021.

7. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 70

Point72 Asset Management first initiated a position in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) during the second quarter of 2021 and added to its existing stake in the third quarter. However, the firm sold its entire stake in the company during the December quarter. Shares of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) have been struggling over the past two years due to increasing competition and declining revenue. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) posted revenue of $41 billion for the fourth quarter, down 10% from the year-ago period.

Despite the poor financial performance, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) gained elite funds’ confidence during Q4. According to data tracked by Insider Monkey, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) was in 70 hedge funds’ portfolios as of the end of December compared to 66 positions in the previous quarter.

In its fourth quarter investor letter, Weitz Investment Management, an investment management firm, mentioned a few stocks, including AT&T Inc.. Here is what Weitz Investment Management stated:

“After several quarters of pandemic-induced outsized growth, new broadband connection growth has slowed for U.S. cable operators. This slower growth has coincided with a renewed push by competitors like Verizon and AT&T to offer high-speed data (either via wireless connects or by building new fiber-optic networks).”

6. Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 24

The share price of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. also underperformed in 2021 despite robust financial numbers. In 2021, its revenue of $8.70 billion increased 8% from the previous year, while net income jumped to $1.31 billion from $131 million a year earlier. Moreover, strong growth in its self-pay subscribers figures to be a major catalyst for future growth. In 2021, Sirius XM Holdings Inc. added more than one million net new self-pay subscribers. Furthermore, its strong financial position enabled Sirius XM Holdings Inc. to declare a special cash dividend of $0.25 per share.

Despite its recent solid financial performance and growth trajectory, hedge fund sentiment towards Sirius XM Holdings Inc. fell during Q4. As of December 31, Sirius XM Holdings Inc. was in 24 hedge funds’ portfolios compared to 27 positions in the previous quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management was among the leading stakeholders in the company.

Like Oracle Corporation, PayPal Holdings, Inc., and Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN), Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is among the 10 stocks billionaire Steve Cohen is selling.

5. Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60

Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management initiated a stake in Oracle Corporation during the September quarter of 2021 and dumped the entire stake in the December quarter. Oracle is one of many software stocks that had generated robust share price gains for investors over the past two years. The company is also one of the somewhat rare tech companies that offers dividends to shareholders, with its dividend yield currently hovering around 1.67%.

Market analysts are showing confidence in Oracle’s future fundamentals. For instance, Monness Crespi Hardt analyst Brian White has a $126 price target for Oracle due to confidence in its cloud business. Deutsche Bank analyst Brad Zelnick predicts Oracle to grow its cloud infrastructure market share by 30% annually over the next several years.

4. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 112

Paypal Holdings, Inc. is one of the favorite stocks among growth investors due to its robust growth trends and strong fundamentals. Its strategy of offering crypto services has further bolstered its revenue growth trends over the past two years. Steve Cohen first initiated a position in PayPal during the second quarter of 2019 and sold out the entire stake in the December quarter of 2021.

In its fourth quarter investor letter, Harding Loevner, an investment management firm, mentioned a few stocks, including PayPal Holdings. Here is what Harding Loevner stated:

“Within IT, PayPal reported slower growth outside its core US market and lowered its earnings guidance for 2022 just enough to catch the wrath of the expensiveness vigilantes. Viewed by sector, IT and Health Care were the biggest detractors in the quarter. Within IT, PayPal reported slower growth outside its core US market and lowered its earnings guidance for 2022 just enough to catch the wrath of the expensiveness vigilantes.”

3. PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 63

Billionaire Steve Cohen bought a stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) at the beginning of 2021 and sold its entire position in the December quarter to capitalize on the share price run. Shares of PepsiCo surged more than 25% over the past 12 months amid improving financial numbers and the economic reopening. PepsiCo is also one of the best stocks to hold for the long-term given its extensive dividend growth history.

Of the 924 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey that filed 13Fs for the December SEC reporting period, PepsiCo was in 63 of their portfolios as of December 31. Terry Smith’s Fundsmith LLP was among the leading stakeholders in the company.

2. Accenture plc (NSE:ACN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52

Accenture plc (NSE:ACN) shares have surged sharply during the past two years. Steve Cohen’s Point72 missed capitalizing on the bulk of that period, initiating a position in the company during the third quarter of 2021. Nonetheless, by the time the fund dumped its entire stake just a quarter later, its position had potentially gained 30% or more in value.

In its fourth quarter investor letter, Third Point Management shared its bullish analysis on Accenture plc (NSE:ACN). Here is what Third Point Management stated:

“Accenture, the gold standard in IT Services, is a high-quality compounder at the nexus of two post-Covid megatrends: the acceleration of digitization across industries globally and an emerging IT talent war. It specializes in the highest value work and is the leader in digital and cloud transformations. For the past two decades, Accenture has compounded free cashflow per share at 12% per year on a fully unlevered basis. It has been able to sustain these high rates of compounding due to rising IT spend, rising IT outsourcing, and consistent market share gains. Accenture is positioned to benefit from skyrocketing demand for IT services, partially due to the coronavirus pandemic, which dramatically accelerated the need for digitization across industries. As companies urgently undertake large scale digital and cloud transformations, tech laggards with historically poor IT hiring capabilities must digitize to survive. We believe that as IT services demand accelerates and shifts towards digital transformation projects (where Accenture is particularly well-positioned), Accenture’s market share gains will sustainably accelerate.

Accenture’s growth will also be supported by an increasingly constrained supply of IT talent. Remote work is decoupling employment from location, globalizing the IT talent pool and enabling leading technology companies to compete for talent outside their home markets much more proactively than in the past. That dynamic is making it increasingly difficult for companies in other industries to hire IT professionals at a time of their greatest need. This IT talent “supply shock” is a tremendous opportunity for Accenture, whose best-in-class brand and talent recruiting give the company a growing supply-side advantage which we believe should translate into further market share gains going forward.

Taken together, we believe these concurrent demand and supply shocks should enable Accenture to sustainably accelerate its growth algorithm going forward. We expect revenue growth to accelerate from high single-digit historical levels to mid-teens in the coming years, while free cashflow per share growth accelerates from low-teens to roughly 20% or better. Accenture’s recent guidance for a material acceleration in fiscal year 2022 is the first evidence of this dynamic unfolding. We expect elevated growth to persist for years to come, and are excited to be long-term owners of the stock.”

1. Sea Limited (NYSE:SE)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 111

Sea Limited (NYSE:SE) was one of the oldest stock holdings in billionaire Steve Cohen’s portfolio, as the firm first bought a stake in the tech-focused conglomerate in 2018. It dumped its entire SE position in the December quarter of 2021. The company’s shares were among the best performers over the past two years, however, they’ve plunged by more than 50% year-to-date due to investors’ move towards value stocks.

In its fourth quarter investor letter, investment management firm Hayden Capital mentioned a few stocks, including Sea Limited. Here is what Hayden Capital stated:

“Sea Ltd represents a substantial portion of our portfolio, and this last market downturn has certainly been painful for shareholders. While I’d estimate (or rather guess?) that ~2/3rd of the stock price decline is due to concerns around the aforementioned rising rate environment hurting most long-duration growth companies, approximately ~1/3rd of the stock decline is likely due to investor’s concerns around Sea Ltd transitioning from “Act 1” to “Act 2”, which I’ll discuss in this section.

Previously, Sea has relied upon the exponential growth of its gaming business, Garena, and in particular that of the worldwide mobile game sensation, Free Fire, to provide the profits to reinvest into the Shopee ecommerce division within Southeast Asia. Between 2018 and 2021, profits from Garena grew over 10x, all of which was reinvested into building out the Shopee ecommerce platform.

This strategy has been tremendously successful, with Shopee now on track to achieve ~$100 Billion in GMV in 2022, making it one of the largest ecommerce companies in the world. More importantly, these new-to-ecommerce customers are extremely sticky (ordering more than 4x per month, logging in several times per day, and spending 30 – 60 minutes inside of the app per day).

This isn’t simply “renting customers” via deeply discounted promo codes. But rather, Shopee has trained a whole new segment of the population to shop online via their addictive & engaging platform. Nowadays, Shopee is definitively the dominant ecommerce leader in Southeast Asia (~55 – 60% market share), and the company feels that it is in a much more stable position versus just a few years ago…” (Click here to see the full text)

You can also take a look at the Billionaire Ken Griffin Is Loading Up on These 10 Stocks and 10 Best Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy in 2022.

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