Elliott Management’s Paul Singer (Trades, Portfolio) gained nine new holdings in the first quarter. His top five new purchases are The Advisory Board Co. (ABCO, Financial), Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (MJN, Financial), Monsanto Co. (MON, Financial), Energen Corp. (EGN, Financial) and C&J Energy Services Inc. (CJ, Financial).
As an activist investor, Singer will take a significant position in underperforming companies in an attempt to help turn them around. His current portfolio is composed of 63 stocks valued at $13.2 billion.
Singer’s largest new holding for the quarter is a 2.03 million-share stake of The Advisory Board with a portfolio weight of 0.72%. He paid an average price of $44.14 per share.
The best practices consulting company has a market cap of $2.06 billion; its shares were trading around $50.85 on Thursday with a price-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20.6, a price-book (P/B) ratio of 3.8 and a price-sales (P/S) ratio of 2.6.
The Peter Lynch chart below shows the stock is trading above its fair value.
With his purchase, Singer became the company’s largest guru shareholder with 5% of outstanding shares. In total, five other gurus also hold the stock.
Singer purchased 1.05 million shares of Mead Johnson for an average price of $82.24 per share, giving it 0.71% portfolio space.
The pediatric nutritional supplements manufacturer has a market cap of $16.4 billion; its shares were trading around $89.11 on Thursday with a P/E ratio of 28.02 and a P/S ratio of 4.5.
According to the Peter Lynch chart below, the stock is trading above its fair value.
John Paulson (Trades, Portfolio) is the company’s largest shareholder among the gurus with 0.6% of outstanding shares. Nine other gurus have positions in Mead Johnson.
After exiting his position in Monsanto in third-quarter 2016, Singer established a new holding of 442,416 shares for an average price of $110.68. The trade expanded the portfolio 0.4%.
The agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology company has a market cap of $50.9 billion; its shares were trading around $116.14 per share on Thursday with a P/E ratio of 26.5, a P/B ratio of 9.2 and a P/S ratio of 3.5.
Based on the Peter Lynch chart below, the stock appears to be trading above its fair value.
PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio) is Monsanto’s largest guru shareholder with 2.5% of outstanding shares. In all, 24 gurus own the stock.
Having previously closed his position in Energen in third-quarter 2016, Paulson bought 850,000 shares for an average price of $54.06 per share, expanding the portfolio 0.35%.
The oil and gas company has a market cap of $5.6 billion; its shares were trading around $57.61 per share on Thursday with a P/E ratio of 81.13, a P/B ratio of 1.7 and a P/S ratio of 8.7.
The Peter Lynch chart below indicates the stock is trading above its fair value.
With his purchase, Singer became Energen’s largest shareholder among the gurus with 0.8% of outstanding shares. Seven other gurus also own the stock.
Singer bought 1.3 million shares of C&J Energy Services for an average price of $38.38 per share. The trade had an impact of 0.34% on the portfolio.
The oil well services provider has a market cap of $2.2 billion; its shares were trading around $34.98 on Thursday with a P/B ratio of 2.2 and a P/S ratio of 3.01.
The Peter Lynch chart below shows the stock is trading above its fair value.
Singer became the largest guru shareholder of C&J Energy Services with his purchase. He holds 2.1% of outstanding shares. George Soros (Trades, Portfolio), Hotchkis & Wiley and Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) also own the stock.
Singer’s other new buys for the quarter include GTY Technology Holdings Inc. (GTYHU, Financial), Matlin & Partners Acquisition Corp. (MPACU, Financial), Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACAD, Financial) and Newfield Exploration Co. (NFX, Financial).
Disclosure: I do not own any stocks mentioned in the article.
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