Top Dogs
When it comes to Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON), Berkshire Hathaway again leads the way, having increased its stake by 11% during the 2017 third quarter. According to the latest regulatory filings, Berkshire holds approximately 8.87 million shares of the producer of agricultural chemicals. In their latest 13F filings, James Dinan’s York Capital Management reported a 25% increase in its holding of Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) to 5.28 million shares, while Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies more than doubled its bet, having amassed 2.2 million shares by the end of the 2017 third quarter. In total, 20 billionaire fund managers had this stock in their equity portfolios.
Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) is currently the subject of takeover efforts from German chemical giant Bayer, which would be the biggest ever merger in the seed and chemical industry. Both companies are currently seeking regulatory approval and expect the deal to close by the middle of 2018. While those opposing the merger argue that it would lead to higher prices for farmers, Bayer and Monsanto claim that together they could up their R&D efforts and develop products that would increase food production.
Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) is the most popular financial stock among the hedge funds followed by Insider Monkey, so it’s no wonder it’s also held by a large number of billionaire fund managers. At the end of the 2017 third quarter, 20 billionaire fund managers, including Warren Buffett, were invested in Bank of America, up from 14 registered a quarter before. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was the largest holder, having indicated ownership of 679 million shares in its latest 13F filing. The position was valued at $17.2 billion and was the fifth largest in Berkshire’s equity portfolio. It is also important to note that it was a new position, established during the third quarter. OZ Management, run by Daniel S. Och, is also among the funds betting on Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), having reported in its latest 13F filing a position that amounted to a little over 15 million shares, up by 1% from the previous quarter. Israel Englander’s Millenium Management also reported a new position in BofA, having amassed 12.8 million shares during the third quarter of 2017.
Earlier today, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth fiscal quarter, as a boost in loan growth offset a decline in fixed-income trading. Adjusted earnings came in at $0.47 per share, compared with expectations of $0.44 per share. Adjusted revenue of $21.4 billion was slightly short of expectations of $21.5 billion. Although the stock is down 2.5% as of the moment of this writing, it could be just a minor correction as analysts expect financial stocks to continue their bullish run given the recent GOP tax overhaul and expectations regarding further interest rate hikes in 2018.
Disclosure: none.
