Westport Asset Management (Trades, Portfolio)’s bottom-up investing approach that combines classic value investment with an eye to future-oriented business analysis has been successful. In 2014, when many investors struggled, Westport produced returns of better than 8%. The year before, its returns were better than 28%.
In the third quarter, though, nearly all of Westport’s trades were sales. Westport added to only one stake in the third quarter and bought no new ones.
Westport’s largest third-quarter transaction was the sale of its 272,500-share stake in Pall Corporation (PLL, Financial), a Port Washington, N.Y.-based supplier of filtration, separation and purification products, for an average price of $126.13 per share. The transaction had a -3.69% impact on Westport’s portfolio.
Pall Corporation has a market cap of $13.58 billion and an enterprise value of $13.66 billion. It has a P/E of 35.7, a forward P/E of 30.4, a P/B of 8.3 and a P/S of 4.9. GuruFocus has given Pall a Financial Strength rating of 6/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10.
Meridian Funds (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio) and Mariko Gordon (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Pall in their portfolios.
Pall Corporation sold for $127.11 per share Wednesday afternoon.
Westport also sold its 390,000-share stake in QLogic Corp. (QLGC, Financial), an Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based computer networking company, for an average price of $10.53 per share. The deal had a -0.6% impact on Westport’s portfolio.
QLogic has a market cap of $1.05 billion and an enterprise value of $746.06 million. It has a P/E of 28.9, a forward P/E of 17.4, a P/B of 1.5 and a P/S of 2.3. GuruFocus has given QLogic a Financial Strength rating of 10/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 7/10.
HOTCHKIS & WILEY, John Rogers (Trades, Portfolio), Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio), David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of QLogic in their portfolios.
Wednesday afternoon QLogic sold for $12.58 per share.
Westport reduced 10 of the stakes in its portfolio in the third quarter, the most significant being its sale of 106,509 shares of Nordson Corp. (NDSN, Financial), a Westlake, Ohio-based maker of dispensing equipment, for an average price of $70.27 per share. The deal, for more than 53% of Westport’s stake, had a -0.9% impact on Westport’s portfolio.
Nordson has a market cap of $4.35 billion and an enterprise value of $5.23 billion. It has a P/E of 19.1, a forward P/E of 17.8, a P/B of 5.2 and a P/S of 2.6. GuruFocus has given Nordson a Financial Strength rating of 8/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 7/10.
Columbia Wanger (Trades, Portfolio), Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio), Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio), First Pacific Advisors (Trades, Portfolio) and Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Nordson in their portfolios.
Nordson sold for $72.19 per share late Wednesday.
Westport sold 34,900 shares of Precision Castparts Corp. (PCP, Financial), a Portland, Ore.-based industrial goods and metal fabrication company, for an average price of $214.64 per share. The deal had a -0.76% impact on Westport’s portfolio.
Precision Castparts has a market cap of $31.78 billion and an enterprise value of $36.18 billion. It has a P/E of 24.5, a forward P/E of 18.6, a P/B of 2.8 and a P/S of 3.4. GuruFocus has given Precision Castparts a Financial Strength rating of 8/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10.
Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio), Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio), Jana Partners (Trades, Portfolio), Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio), Lou Simpson (Trades, Portfolio), Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio), Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Scott Black (Trades, Portfolio), Tom Russo (Trades, Portfolio), Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio), Jeff Auxier (Trades, Portfolio), Michael Price (Trades, Portfolio), George Soros (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), Prem Watsa (Trades, Portfolio) and First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Precision Castparts in their portfolios.
Wednesday afternoon Precision Castparts sold for $231.01 per share.
Westport sold more than 30% of its stake in Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (APD, Financial), a Detroit-based chemicals company. Westport sold 47,500 shares for an average price of $137.55 per share. The transaction had a -0.71% impact on Westport’s portfolio.
Air Products & Chemicals has a market cap of $29.46 billion and an enterprise value of $35.26 billion. It has a P/E of 28.7, a forward P/E of 18.6, a P/B of 4.0 and a P/S of 2.9. GuruFocus has given Air Products a Financial Strength rating of 8/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 7/10.
Bill Ackman (Trades, Portfolio), Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio), John Griffin (Trades, Portfolio), First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Meridian Funds (Trades, Portfolio), Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio), Whitney Tilson (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), Dodge & Cox, Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), James Barrow (Trades, Portfolio) and Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Air Products in their portfolios.
Air Products sold for $136.8 per share Wednesday afternoon.
Westport sold 39,193 shares of Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS, Financial), a King of Prussia, Pa.-based hospital management company, for an average price of $139.18 per share. The deal had a -0.61% impact on Westport’s portfolio.
Universal Health Services has a market cap of $11.9 billion and an enterprise value of $15.02 billion. It has a P/E of 19.9, a forward P/E of 16.8, a P/B of 2.9 and a P/S of 1.4. GuruFocus has given Universal Health Services a Financial Strength rating of 7/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10.
Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio), Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio), Lee Ainslie (Trades, Portfolio), Larry Robbins (Trades, Portfolio), Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio), RS Investment Management (Trades, Portfolio), Private Capital (Trades, Portfolio), Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio), Robert Olstein (Trades, Portfolio) and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Universal Health Services in their portfolios.
Universal Health Services sold for $120.81 per share Wednesday afternoon.
Westport added to one stake in its portfolio – Checkpoint Systems Inc. (CKP, Financial), a Thorofare, N.J.-based provider of merchandise availability solutions.
Westport bought 28,532 shares of Checkpoint for an average price of $8.35 per share. The purchase had a 0.03% impact on Westport’s portfolio.
Checkpoint has a market cap of $265.08 million and an enterprise value of $283.01 million. It has a forward P/E of 12.5, a P/B of 1.0 and a P/S of 0.5. GuruFocus has given Checkpoint a Financial Strength rating of 7/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 4/10.
Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Chanos (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Checkpoint in their portfolios.
Wednesday afternoon Checkpoint sold for $6.39 per share.
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