#2 McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK)
– Investors with Long Positions (as of December 31): 63
– Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of December 31): $3.06 billion
Among the companies covered in this list, McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK)’s stock suffered the least decline during the first quarter, losing 20.17% of its value during that time. During the October-December period, the number of investors covered by us with long positions in the stock inched down by five and the aggregate value of their holdings in it fell $251 million. With ownership of over 2.76 million shares of McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK), Andreas Halvorsen‘s Viking Global was its largest shareholder among the funds we track at the end of 2015 . In January this year, McKesson Corporation began a strategic review and found that it needs to reduce its workforce to align its cost structure with its business needs. After reaching that conclusion, on March 17, it announced that it will be laying off 1,600 employees or nearly 4% of its U.S. workforce. For its fiscal 2016 fourth quarter analysts expect the company to report EPS of $3.00 on revenue of $46.91 billion, higher than the EPS of $2.94 on revenue of $44.93 billion it delivered in the same quarter last year.
#1 Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX)
– Investors with Long Positions (as of December 31): 83
– Aggregate Value of Investors’ Holdings (as of December 31): $12.55 billion
Unsurprisingly, Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) is the top healthcare stock that has disappointed the most number of smart money investors this year. Though the ownership of the company among the funds in our database declined by five and the aggregate value of their holdings slid by over $5 billion during the fourth quarter, it was still one of the most popular stock among the funds we track. Billionaire Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square and billionaire John Paulson‘s Paulson & Co were among the largest shareholders of the company during that time with ownership of 16.6 million shares and 13.26 million shares respectively, as of December 31. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX)’s stock ended the first quarter down by almost 75%, but due to the gains it has managed in the last few trading sessions it now trades 67% in the red year-to-date. The majority of the appreciation it has seen recently came after the company managed to win the support of a majority of its lenders to waive a default and ease some of the restrictions on its loan pact. After raising possibility last month that the company would sell its eye-care business Bausch & Lomb, Mr. Ackman, who has recently joined the Board, told CNBC that Valeant wouldn’t sell Bausch & Lomb because “It’s a core asset” and the company is “considering selling non-core assets.”
Disclosure: None
