Donald Trump Had Awful Things to Say About These 5 Companies, Now See What Hedge Funds Have to Say

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

 – Investors with long positions (as of March 31): 152

 – Aggregate value of investors’ holdings (as of March 31): $14.82 billion

Speaking at Liberty University in January, Mr. Trump said that “we’re gonna get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country, instead of in other countries.” That rhetoric was followed up on in February when he asked people to boycott Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s products at a town hall event in South Carolina, citing the company’s refusal to help the FBI in unlocking the iPhone of one of the shooters involved in last year’s San Bernardino attack. The ironic thing that emerged after Mr. Trump asked people to boycott Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was that he himself was sending tweets via an iPhone. In his regulatory filing, Mr. Trump revealed that he holds multiple investments in the company, valued at between $1.1 million and $2.25 million. Apple was the fourth-most popular company among the hedge funds that we track at the end of first quarter, with its net ownership among those funds increasing by 19 during the first quarter, while the aggregate value of their holdings in it dropped by $2.9 billion. The holding company of legendary investor Warren Buffett initiated a stake in the company during the first quarter, purchasing 9.8 million shares.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)

 – Investors with long positions (as of March 31): 33

 – Aggregate value of investors’ holdings (as of March 31): $613.63 million

Moving on, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has been criticized continuously by Mr. Trump ever since the company revealed its plans to build a factory in Mexico last year. Within a few days of launching his Presidential campaign, Mr. Trump stated that he will impose a 35% tax on any vehicle that Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) manufactures in Mexico and sells in the U.S. After Ford announced in April that it is going ahead with its plan to construct a $1.6 billion assembling plant in the neighboring country, Mr. Trump called that decision “an absolute disgrace.” Despite his grudge, Mr. Trump owns shares of the automaker worth between $500,000 and $1 million. Hedge funds in our system were not overly optimistic about the company’s future in the first quarter, as net ownership of the company among them fell by six and the aggregate value of their holdings in it fell by $418 million. Billionaire Israel Englander‘s Millennium Management was one of the hedge funds that reduced its stake in Ford during the first quarter, by 47% to 1.78 million shares.

Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

 – Investors with long positions (as of March 31): 63

 – Aggregate value of investors’ holdings (as of March 31): $5.66 billion

Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ) was another stock in which Mr. Trump did the exact opposite when it came to putting his money where his mouth his. After Nabisco, a subsidiary of Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ:MDLZ), announced last August that it would be laying off 600 employees in Chicago and open a new manufacturing facility in Salinas, Mexico, Mr. Trump said “I love Oreos. I will never eat them again.” Although he doesn’t own a stake in the company anymore, he reported receiving between $5,000 and $15,000 in interest income from his stake in Mondelez in his regulatory filing. During the first quarter, the number of hedge funds in our system long Mondelez increased by six, but the aggregate value of their holdings in the company dropped by over $1 billion. Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Sqaure was among the hedge funds that cut its stake in Mondelez significantly during the first quarter, by 48% to just under 23 million shares.

Disclosure: None