Billionaire Wilbur Ross’ Top Stock Picks and Notable Moves

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Billionaire Wilbur L. Ross Jr., known as a connoisseur of failed companies, has built his net worth betting on distressed assets. The billionaire distressed asset investor serves as the Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of deep value-oriented private equity firm WL Ross & Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Invesco Ltd. (NYSE:IVZ) and part of Invesco Private Capital. The New York-based investment firm primarily seeks out to provide “high-touch” capital and operations solutions in transitional situations where Mr. Ross and his team can influence the outcome. Wilbur Ross believes in the set of value investing principles set out by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, so retail investor should definitely have a look at his firm’s pool of holdings. For that reason, this article will discuss the top three holdings within Mr. Ross’ portfolio, as well as lay out two noteworthy moves executed during the first quarter of 2016. His top three equity holdings did not suffer any changes during the quarter.

At Insider Monkey, we track around 730 hedge funds and institutional investors. Through extensive backtests, we have determined that imitating some of the stocks that these investors are collectively bullish on can help retail investors generate double digits of alpha per year. The key is to focus on the small-cap picks of these funds, which are usually less followed by the broader market and allow for larger price inefficiencies (see more details about our small-cap strategy).

Wilbur Ross Sold Out GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRO) Stake

– Number of shares owned by WL Ross & Co. as of March 31: 0

– Value of WL Ross & Co.’s holding as of March 31: 0

Billionaire Wilbur Ross and his team sold out a 43,357-share stake in GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRO) during the first quarter of the year. The position was acquired during the final quarter of 2015, so the move isn’t quite characteristic to the long-term view principle advocated by most value investors. The manufacturer of action cameras has seen its market capitalization plummet by 48% since the beginning of the year, partially owing to mixed first-quarter earnings results and postponement of the launch of its flying-camera drone, called Karma. GoPro’s first product for the consumer drone market was initially scheduled for launch at the end of the second quarter, but the unveiling has been delayed closer to the holiday season. The company’s first-quarter revenue was $183.54 million, down drastically from $363.11 million recorded a year ago. The number of hedge funds from our system with stakes in GoPro dropped to 16 from 18 during the March quarter. Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management LLC owns 1.98 million shares of GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRO) as of March 31.

Follow Gopro Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRO)

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