Billionaires Were Buying These Stocks in Q2 When Everyone Else Was Selling

DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) was owned by 75 hedge funds on June 30, 16 of which were billionaires. That compared to 80 hedge funds long the stock on March 31, 15 of which were billionaires. Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global bought 10.19 million shares of DowDuPont during Q2, which represented a new position for the billionaire’s fund.

DowDuPont Inc (NYSE:DWDP) is ramping up its silicones business to meet increasing demand from the healthcare, industrial, and building sectors, among others. Dow’s polymer capacity will be increased by 65% in the U.S thanks to a new plant in Kentucky, while the company is busy scouting locations for a new siloxane plant. According to management, Dow is focused on increasing its EBITDA margins by up to 5% and delivering better ROIC.

Among billionaire money managers, 12 owned Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) on June 30, up from 9 a quarter earlier, even as overall hedge fund ownership fell to 42 from 46 during that time. Stanley Druckenmiller‘s Duquesne Capital added an 858,000-share position in Freeport-McMoran to its 13F portfolio during Q2.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) shares have surged by over 10% in the past week as concerns over escalating tariffs in the U.S/China trade war eased somewhat. Trump’s 10% tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods on Monday were not nearly as ferocious as the markets had been anticipating, though they will rise to 25% at the end of the year. Freeport-McMoRan’s copper shipments rose by 4.9% year-over-year in Q2 to 448,000 metric tons.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) was sold off by a net total of 11 different non-billionaire hedge funds in Q2, while there was a net ownership increase of three among billionaire hedge funds. Overall ownership fell to 92 from 100, dropping JPMorgan from being the eighth-most popular stock to 11th. Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management opened a new JPMorgan position in Q2 containing 140,000 shares on June 30.

Billionaires were right to buy JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) during its Q2 doldrums, as shares have jumped by over 12% in the third-quarter. JPM’s quarterly dividend received an impressive 43% hike to $0.80 yesterday, lifting its annual yield to 2.8%. JPMorgan continues to expand into new markets to help grow its customer base, while new products like the trading platform You Invest aim to better monetize those customers.

Disclosure: None