Jeff Ubben (Trades, Portfolio) of ValueAct Holdings matched the number of transactions he made in the third quarter with five deals in the fourth quarter, but he made no new buys.
Ubben sold his 11.3 million-share stake in American Express (AXP, Financial), a banking and financial services company based in New York, for an average price of $72.69 per share. The deal had a -4.87% impact on Ubben’s portfolio.
Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) is American Express’ leading shareholder among the gurus with a stake of 151,610,700 shares. The stake is 15.73% of American Express’ outstanding shares and 8% of Buffett’s total assets.
American Express has a P/E of 11.7, a forward P/E of 10.6, a P/B of 2.8 and a P/S of 1.8. GuruFocus gives American Express a Financial Strength rating of 4/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10.
American Express sold for $58.77 per share Thursday.
Ubben sold nearly 25% of the most valuable stake in his portfolio, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Financial), a technology company based in Redmond, Washington. Ubben sold 18,649,321 shares for an average price of $52.81 per share. The transaction had a -4.8% impact on Ubben’s portfolio.
The remaining stake of 56,623,770 shares is 0.72% of Microsoft’s outstanding shares and 21.75% of Ubben’s total assets. Dodge & Cox is Microsoft’s leading shareholder among the gurus with a stake of 66,559,905 shares. The stake is 0.84% of Microsoft’s outstanding shares and 3.62% of Dodge & Cox’s total assets.
Microsoft has a P/E of 37.2, a forward P/E of 16.3, a P/B of 5.3 and a P/S of 4.7. GuruFocus gives Microsoft a Financial Strength rating of 7/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10.
Microsoft sold for $52.05 per share Thursday.
Ubben trimmed his stake in Halliburton Co. (HAL, Financial), a Houston-based oilfield services and equipment company, by nearly 56%. Ubben sold 20,645,265 shares for an average price of $37.74 per share. The deal had a -4.25% impact on Ubben’s portfolio.
Halliburton is the 10th-most valuable stake in Ubben’s portfolio.
The remaining stake of 16,504,295 shares is 1.92% of Halliburton’s outstanding shares and 3.89% of Ubben’s total assets. Ubben is Halliburton’s leading shareholder among the gurus.
Halliburton has a forward P/E of 22.2, a P/B of 1.9 and a P/S of 1.2. GuruFocus gives Halliburton a Financial Strength rating of 6/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 6/10.
Halliburton sold for $34.51 per share Thursday.
In its ongoing effort to cope with the downturn in oil prices, Halliburton announced Wednesday that it will curb its employee retirement program and curtail executive bonuses, but it will not cut more jobs. The company has cut its workforce by almost 30% since 2014.
Ubben sold more than 32% of the 12th-most valuable stake in his portfolio, MSCI Inc. (MSCI, Financial), a New York-based provider of equity, fixed income and hedge fund stock market indexes and equity portfolio analysis tools. Ubben sold 2,982,000 shares for an average price of $67.13 per share. The transaction had a -1.03% impact on Ubben’s portfolio.
The remaining stake of 6,327,311 shares is 6.4% of MSCI’s outstanding shares and 3.16% of Ubben’s total assets. Ubben is MSCI’s leading shareholder among the gurus.
MSCI has a P/E of 33.7, a forward P/E of 18.8, a P/B of 7.8 and a P/S of 7.1. GuruFocus gives MSCI a Financial Strength rating of 7/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10.
MSCI sold for $68.95 per share Thursday.
Ubben more than doubled his stake in Towers Watson & Co. (TW, Financial), an Arlington, Virginia-based professional services company. Ubben purchased 395,000 shares for an average price of $128.22 per share. The deal had a 0.35% impact on Ubben’s portfolio.
The stake, now 725,000 shares, is 1.04% of Towers Watson’s outstanding shares and 0.64% of Ubben’s total assets. Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio) is Towers Watson’s leading shareholder among the gurus with a stake of 762,284 shares. The stake is 1.1% of Towers Watson’s outstanding shares and 0.45% of Baron’s total assets.
Towers Watson has a P/E of 20.1, a forward P/E of 13.4, a P/B of 2.9 and a P/S of 2.3. GuruFocus gives Towers Watson a Financial Strength rating of 6/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10.
Towers Watson sold for $123 per share Thursday.
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