Martin Whitman Sells Comerica, Buys Amgen

The guru's largest 1st-quarter trades

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Apr 25, 2017
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Martin Whitman (Trades, Portfolio) is founder and portfolio manager of the Third Avenue Value Fund. During the first quarter the guru traded shares in the following stocks:

The investor reduced his holding in Comerica Inc. (CMA) by 32.65% with an impact of -2.1% on the portfolio.

It is a financial services company that operates in three business segments: the Business Bank, the Retail Bank and Wealth Management. It operates in three primary geographic markets: Michigan, California and Texas.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 6 out of 10. The return on equity (ROE) of 7.91% and return on assets (ROA) of 0.86% are underperforming 68% of the companies in the Global Banks - Regional - US industry. Financial strength has a rating of 6 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 1.60 is below the industry median of 2.23.

The largest shareholder among the gurus is Eric Mindich (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.17% of outstanding shares followed by Richard Pzena (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.11%, David Tepper (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.65%, Third Avenue Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.58%, Whitman with 0.51% and RS Investment Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.5%.

The guru purchased 372,839 shares in Cerner Corp. (CERN) with an impact of 1.79% on the portfolio.

It is a supplier of health care information technology and offers software, professional services, medical device integration, remote hosting and employer health and wellness services.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 9 out of 10. The ROE of 15.88% and ROA of 11.16% are outperforming 75% of the companies in the Global Health Information Services industry. Financial strength has a rating of 7 out of 10; the cash-debt ratio of 0.63 is below the industry median of 10.13.

Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder among the gurus with 5.13% of outstanding shares followed by Frank Sands (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.95%, Manning & Napier Advisors Inc. with 0.54%, Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.39%, Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.38% and Third Avenue Management with 0.12%.

The guru reduced his holding in AGCO Corp. (AGCO) by 79.22%. The trade had an impact of -1.73% on the portfolio.

The company manufactures and distributes agricultural equipment and related replacement parts in various parts of the country. It sells a full range of agricultural equipment including tractors, combines and self-propelled sprayers among others.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 5 out of 10. The ROE of 5.59% and ROA of 2.27% are outperforming 53% of the companies in the Global Farm & Construction Equipment industry. Financial strength has a rating of 6 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.25 is below the industry median of 0.57.

The largest shareholder among the gurus is Tweedy Browne (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.28% of outstanding shares followed by First Pacific Advisors (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.75%, Tweedy Browne Global Value with 0.75%, Third Avenue Management with 0.47%, Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.38% and FPA Capital Fund (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.31%.

The investor reduced his position in CBS Corp. Class BÂ (CBS) by 28.81%. The transaction had an impact of -1.07% on the portfolio.

The company operates businesses within the media and entertainment industries including the CBS Television Network, cable networks, content production and distribution, television and radio stations, internet-based businesses and consumer publishing.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 7 out of 10. The ROE of 24.75% and ROA of 5.32% are outperforming 69% of the companies in the Global Media – Diversified industry. Financial strength has a rating of 4 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.06 is below the industry median of 1.52.

Larry Robbins (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder among the gurus with 1.52% of outstanding shares followed by HOTCHKIS & WILEY with 0.91%, John Rogers (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.29%, Third Avenue Management with 0.16%, Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.15% and Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.12%.

The guru reduced his shares in Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) by 14% with an impact of -0.99% on the portfolio.

It is an investment company. Its business segments are: Investment Management and Investment Services. Its other segments includes credit-related services, the leasing portfolio and corporate treasury activities among others.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 6 out of 10. While the ROE of 8.71% is outperforming the sector, the ROA of 0.96% is underperforming 63% of the companies in the Global Asset Management industry. Financial strength has a rating of 6 out of 10 with a cash-debt ratio of 3.09.

The largest shareholder among the gurus is Dodge & Cox with 4.79% of outstanding shares followed by First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio) with 2.12%, Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) with 2.09%, Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio) with 2.05%, Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.61% and Gabelli with 0.56%.

Whitman trimmed his position in Covanta Holding Corp. (CVA) by 34.66% with an impact of -0.72% on the portfolio.

The company is a developer, owner and operator of infrastructure for the conversion of waste to energy as well as other waste disposal and renewable energy production businesses.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 6 out of 10. The ROE of -0.76% and ROA of -0.09% are underperforming 63% of the companies in the Global Waste Management industry. Financial strength has a rating of 4 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.03 is below the industry median of 0.45.

Simons is the largest shareholder among the gurus with 2.76% of outstanding shares followed by Third Avenue Management with 01.28%, Gabelli with 0.18%, PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.13%, Manning & Napier Advisors with 0.06% and Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.02%.

The investor raised his shares in Amgen Inc. (AMGN) by 26.61% with an impact of 0.52% on the portfolio.

It is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and delivers human therapeutics. The company's business segment is human therapeutics.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 9 out of 10. The ROE of 26.17% and ROA of 10.22% are outperforming 91% of the companies in the Global Biotechnology industry. Financial strength has a rating of 6 out of 10 with a cash-debt ratio of 1.10 that is below the industry median of 54.02.

The largest shareholder among the gurus is PRIMECAP Management with 3.4% of outstanding shares followed by Vanguard Health Care Fund with 0.25%, Simons with 0.24%, David Carlson (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.06%, Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.04% and Third Avenue Management with 0.03%.

Disclosure: I do not own any shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.

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