Billionaire Julian Robertson’s Long Term Stock Picks

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) represents the second most valuable long term investment in Robertson’s portfolio. After an 18% increase in the company’s stake during the fourth quarter, the fund amounted to about 848,775 shares valued at $41.75 million. Mr. Robertson initiated a stake in the company during the third quarter of 2013 and for the most part since then, the investor has been trimming his stake. However, in the second half of 2014, the holding was increased. The crude oil reached a peak of $147 a barrel in July 2008 and now it is trading nearly $46 and this of course is crucial for the company for the cost incidence in the income statement. Due to a general improving global economy, the firm should benefit from a higher passenger demand. We look for business travel demand to improve throughout this year.

Lansdowne Partners held the highest number of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) shares among the hedge funds that we track, its stake containing 23.11 million shares valued at about $1.14 billion. Moreover, Delta Air Lines is one of the favorite airline stocks among billionaire investors as we determined from data from the latest round of 13F filings.

Next in line is BioDelivery Sciences International Inc. (NASDAQ:BDSI). The fund held about 510,874 shares valued at $6.14 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2014, while the stake was initiated in the last three months of 2013 and has been unchanged since then. With a market cap of $754.9 million, BioDelivery Sciences International Inc. (NASDAQ:BDSI) is up by 65.4% during the last 52 weeks, and gained 23% year to date. Healthcare focusef fund Broadfin Capital, led by Kevin Kother, held a stake of 2.39 million shares of BioDelivery Sciences International valued at $28.80 million, which was the largest holding among the hedge funds that we track.

Disclosure: none