Charles De Vaulx Reports His Top Five of the First Quarter

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Jun 03, 2014
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Charles De Vaulx of the IVA Funds reported his first quarter holdings this past week. In October the IVA Funds will celebrate their sixth year in the business. The fund maintains a dual investment approach which is split into short- and long-term investments. IVA reports that their short-term (12 to 18 months) investments are in order to preserve capital while their longer term (5 to 10 years) they try to perform better that their equity benchmark. The fund also reported that over the past five years, they achieved both of these goals with their investments.

Over the past quarter Charles De Vaulx in his IVA Worldwide Fund bought no new stocks bringing the total number of stocks to 98 valued at $5.09 billion. The following five companies are De Vaulx’s largest holdings as of the close of the first quarter.

Astellas Pharma (TSE:4503)

The guru’s largest holding is in Astellas Pharma where he holds on to 27,078,000 shares of the company’s stock. His holdings make up for 6.3% of his total portfolio and 1.23% of the company’s shares outstanding.

The guru did not alter his position in the company over the past quarter, but since his increase in the fourth quarter of 2013, the price per share is trading up approximately 17.6%.

Charles De Vaulx’s historical holdings as of the close of the first quarter:

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Astellas Pharma Inc is engaged in the business of manufacturing, marketing and import/export of pharmaceuticals. The company's businesses are segmented into pharmaceutical and other.

Astellas Pharma’s historical revenue and net income:

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The analysis on Astellas Pharma reports that the company’s price is sitting near a 5-year high, its dividend yield is near a 5-year low and the company currently holds no debt.

Astellas Pharma has a market cap of ¥2942.58 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around ¥1337 with a P/E ratio of 9.20, a P/S ratio of 0.66 and a P/B ratio of 2.47. The company currently holds a dividend yield of around 0.87%.

Nestle SA (XSWX:NESN)

De Vaulx’s second largest position over the past quarter was in Nestle SA where he holds on to 4,220,716 shares of the company’s stocks. His holdings make up for 6.2% of his total portfolio and 0.13% of the company’s shares outstanding.

The guru did not alter his position over the duration of the first quarter. Since his last move in the third quarter of 2013 the price is trading up approximately 12.2%.

Charles De Vaulx’s historical holding history:

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Nestle SA manufactures and markets food products. The Company's product line includes milk, chocolate, confectionery, creamer, coffee, food seasoning, bottled water and pet foods among others.

Nestle’s historical revenue and net income:

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The analysis on the company reports that the revenue has been in decline over the past five years, the company has issued CHF6.3 billion of debt over the past year, the operating margin is expanding and P/E and P/B ratios are nearing 1-year lows.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:

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Nestle SA has a market cap of CHF223.91billion. Its shares are currently trading at around CHF70.20 with a P/E ratio of 22.40, a P/S ratio of 2.25 and a P/B ratio of 3.49. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 6.3% over the past ten years.

Devon Energy (DVN)

De Vaulx’s third largest position is in Devon Energy where he holds on to 4,097,287 shares of the company’s stock. His holdings make up for 5.4% of his total portfolio and 1.01% of the company’s shares outstanding.

The guru did not alter his holdings in Devon Energy over the past quarter. His last move was in the fourth quarter of 2013 when he added 9,247 shares of the company’s stock. Since that buy the price per share is trading up approximately 21.7%.

De Vaulx’s historical holding history as of the close of Q1:

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Devon Energy is an independent energy company engaged mainly in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and NGLs. The company's operations are concentrated in various North American onshore areas in the U.S. and Canada.

Devon’s historical revenue and earnings growth:

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The analysis on Devon Energy reports that the company’s price is nearing a 1-year high, its revenue has been in decline for the past five years and it has issued $4.5 billion of debt over the past three years.

Devon Energy has a market cap of $30.47 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $74.71 with a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/S ratio of 2.50 and a P/B ratio of 1.30. The company has a 1.20% dividend yield.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, Financial)

The guru’s fourth largest holding goes to Berkshire Hathaway where he maintains 1,339 shares of the company’s stock. His position makes up for 4.7% of his total assets managed and 0.08% of the company’s shares outstanding.

Charles De Vaulx did not alter his holdings over the duration over the past quarter. Since his sell in the third quarter 2013, the price per share has gone up approximately 10.8%.

De Vaulx’s historical holding history:

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Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate holding company owning subsidiaries engaged in a number of business activities, including property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, utilities and energy, finance, manufacturing, service and retailing.

Berkshire Hathaway’s historical revenue and earnings growth:

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The analysis on Berkshire Hathaway reports that the company’s price is near a 10-year high, it has shown predictable revenue and earnings growth and its operating margin is expanding.

The top guru shareholders of BRK.A:

1. Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio): 10,581 shares, representing 0.65% of the company’s shares outstanding and 10.6% of his total portfolio.

2. Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio): 8,546 shares, representing 0.52% of the company’s shares outstanding and 4.4% of his total portfolio.

3. Tom Russo (Trades, Portfolio): 5,109 shares, representing 0.31% of the company’s shares outstanding as well as 9.2% of his total assets managed.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently overvalued:

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Berkshire Hathaway has a market cap of $311.09 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $190,100 with a P/E ratio of 15.50, a P/S ratio of 1.70 and a P/B ratio of 1.30. Berkshire Hathaway had an annual average earnings growth of 9.20% over the past ten years.

GuruFocus rated Berkshire Hathaway the business predictability rank of 3-star.

Oracle Corporation (ORCL, Financial)

The guru’s fifth largest holding goes to Oracle where he maintains 4,975,822 shares of the company’s stock. His position makes up for 4% of his total portfolio and 0.11% of the company’s shares outstanding.

Over the past quarter the guru reduced his position -12.52% by selling 711,818 shares of the company’s stock. The guru sold these shares in the quarterly price range of $35.84 to $40.91, with an estimated average quarterly price of $38.06 per share. Since then the price per share is trading up approximately 10%.

De Vaulx’s holding history of Oracle as of the fourth quarter:

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Oracle provides technologies of cloud computing, including database and middleware as well as web-based applications, virtualization, clustering and systems management. It provides cloud services as well as software and hardware products to other cloud service providers, both public and private.

Oracle’s historical revenue and net income:

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The analysis on Oracle reports that the company’s revenue has slowed down over the past year, its price is near a 10-year high, its operating margin is expanding and its dividend yield is also near a 5-year high.

The Peter Lynch Chart suggests that the company is currently undervalued:

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Oracle Corporation has a market cap of $186.47 billion. Its shares are currently trading at around $41.82 with a P/E ratio of 17.60, a P/S ratio of 5.10 and a P/B ratio of 4.20. The company had an annual average earnings growth of 19.40% over the past ten years.

GuruFocus rated Oracle the business predictability rank of 4.5-star.

Check out Charles De Vaulx’s full first quarter portfolio here.

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