Ahmet Okumus’ Top Stock Picks: Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc (GLPI) and Others

Web.com Group Inc (NASDAQ:WWWW) represented the largest position in Okumus’ equity portfolio since the third quarter of 2014, when the fund initiated a stake with 7.17 million shares, valued at $143.05 million. During the next quarter, the investor inched up its stake by 9% to 7.78 million shares worth $147.79 million, held as of the end of 2014. Okumus changed the nature of its position to activist at the end of 2014, saying that it plans to engage in discussions with the board and management. At the beginning of February the fund disclosed entering into a deal with Web.com Group Inc (NASDAQ:WWWW), under the terms of which the investor nominated two new independent directors that were appointed to the board.

Gaming Leisure and Properties, which represents the second-largest stake, is followed by AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG), in which Okumus reported ownership of 2.92 million shares, down by 22% on the quarter; the value of the stake amounts to $57.63 million. The stock of AVG Technologies, which represents a long-term investment of Mr. Okumus, gained 13% during the last 52 weeks. A couple of days ago, the company announced that it has reached 200 million subscribers, including 100 million mobile users. Moreover, at the end of February, Nomura Securities increased the price target on AVG Technologies’ stock to $25.00 from $24.00, reiterating ‘Buy’ rating. Nevertheless, other investors own much smaller positions in AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG), such as D.E Shaw’s stake of 586,700 shares, which is the second-largest after Okumus, among funds that we track. In addition, in the equity portfolios of the majority of 19 funds that disclosed holding shares of AVG Technologies NV (NYSE:AVG), the company represents less than 1% of the total value.

Disclosure: none