Viking Global’s Andreas Halvorsen recently disclosed his long stock positions at the end of March. The filing reveals that Halvorsen initiated 5 big stock positions, spending a total of $2 Billion. Ole Andreas Halvorsen is one of the most successful Tiger cubs. Norwegian Halvorsen launched Viking Global at the end of 1999 with former Tiger employees David Ott and Brian Olson. Viking Global returned an astonishing 89% after fees in its first full year. Viking is a long/short global equity fund with a bottom-up stock picking approach. Here are the five stocks Andreas Halvorsen is crazy about right now:
Johnson Controls Inc (JCI): Halvorsen had nearly $500 Million in JCI at the end of March. This isn’t a very popular stock among hedge funds actually. Chris Shumway had nearly $90 Million in JCI at the end of December. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management each had a little over $10 Million in JCI at the end of December as well.
Priceline (PCLN): Halvorsen initiated a $459 Million position in Priceline during the first quarter. It looks like Priceline is attracting some tiger cub love. Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital also initiated a $181 Million position in PCLN. Chase Coleman’s Tiger Global added to its Priceline holdings during the first quarter, bringing its investment to $245 Million.
News Corp (NWSA): Viking Global started a $350 Million investment in News Corp. NWSA returned more than 20% so far in 2011. Seth Klarman’s Baupost had $334 Million in NWSA as well. Stephen Mandel initiated a $168 Million position in NWSA too. Mandel and Halvorsen must be sharing investment ideas. Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management doesn’t think NWSA is a magic formula stock anymore. Greenblatt sold his entire stake in News Corp.
Viacom Inc (VIA-B): Halvorsen initiated a $333 Million position in Viacom, which is a very popular stock among prominent investors. Eton Park’s Eric Mindich increased his Viacom holdings to $700 Million. Chase Coleman had $368 Million, Tom Steyer’s Farallon had $179 Million, Larry Robbins’ Glenview had $116 Million, and Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners had $55 Million in Viacom at the end of March.
JP Morgan Chase (JPM): This isn’t a completely brand new position, however, Halvorsen increased his JPM position by nearly 500% to $466 Million. JP Morgan is one of the most popular financial stocks among hedge funds. Paul Ruddock and Steve Heinz’s Landsdowne Partners had $1.2 Billion in JPM at the end of December. Jonathan Jacobson’s Highfields Capital had more than $600 Million. The decline in financial stocks probably triggered this large purchase.
Andreas Halvorsen made several other large purchases and sold some of his other holdings. Here is a summary table detailing Halvorsen’s portfolio activity during the first quarter of 2011:
