Related Tickers: Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC), Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM), Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP)
Noam Gottesman’s accomplished financial career was nurtured in the halls of Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers before he broke off to co-found GLG Partners in 1995. He now currently manages just shy of $2bn, taking equity and debt positions in hundreds of names. We have searched over GLG’s quarterly filings as well as the filings of 400+ other funds to create retail-friendly investing strategies, one of which has returned 37% since its inception in September of last year (find out more here). With that analytic process in mind, here is our take on five positions that Gottesman upped dramatically throughout the past four quarters.
Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC) is a manufacturer of high performance linear integrated circuits that saw the most buying support from Gottesman in the time period of our study. The fund manager increased his debt investment by 4500% in 2012, starting the year with 170,000 shares and ending it with 7.8mm. In that same time period, the stock returned 12.5%, even after suffering a substantial dip in the summer. Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC) announced an estimate-beating Q1 EPS of $0.46 last week but provided light guidance going forward. Income investors will like the 3% dividend yield that the stock offers. Billionaire George Soros of Soros Fund Management has over $13mm devoted to the stock through equity and option investments (check out his portfolio’s make-up here).
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM) grabs the second spot after it saw a greater-than 3000% increase in position size by GLG. Gottesman claimed ownership of 26,000 shares in Q1 2012 but declared over 900,000 in his Q4 13F. The semiconductor manufacturer has grown out of fashion with analysts as of late as some claim the overall chip market is decreasing; Barclay’s cut Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM) down two levels to Underweight on the eleventh of April. The stock is still somewhat popular amongst the funds we track, with slightly less than 10% claiming ownership. Billionaire Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies cut his position size in half going from Q3 2012 to Q4 (take a look at his other holdings here).
Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM) stands out in our screen as it provides the highest dividend yield amongst our five socks, coming in at 5.2%. However, that quarterly income has done little to combat the stock’s fall in share price due to weakening gold prices. NEM lost 25% last year and is down another 28% so far this year. Gottesman increased his debt position in the gold and copper miner by over 1200% from Q1 2012 to Q4; he began the year with 380,000 shares and finished with 5.2mm. Billionaire Daniel S. Och of OZ Management has a put position in Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM) valued at $32mm (see his top picks here).
Which other companies received big monetary support from GLG?
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) continues the trend of chip manufacturers on our list. NVDA started Q1 2012 as a 133,000 share position for Gottesman valued at $2mm. Fast forward to Q4, and the fund manager built the position up to 1.6mm shares, adding up to a market value of $19.9mm. In that same time period, the chip manufacturer lost 14% but is up slightly since the beginning of 2013. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) hopes to add shareholder value in 2013 by returning $1bn through dividends and buybacks. The stock is currently 13.3% away from where analysts collectively expect it to be a year from now. Billionaire Steven Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors has over $50mm invested across equity and call option positions (read about his top holdings here).
Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) rounds out our list after seeing its share in Gottesman’s portfolio jump from 0.06% of AUM in Q1 2012 to 0.67% by Q4. The international brewer saw an upgrade by Goldman Sachs to Buy at the start of the month; the investment bank issued a price target of $63, which represents a potential growth of over 20% from current trading levels. The stock is already up 21% this year as alcohol drinkers help beer sales achieve their first gain in four years. Billionaire David Harding of Winton Capital Management has $12.3mm invested in Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP), roughly $1mm less than Gottesman (view the fund’s positions here).
Disclosure: I do not own shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.
