Steven Romick Exits Legg Mason, Trims Qualcomm, American Express Positions

The guru's largest sales of the 4th quarter

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Jan 12, 2018
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Steven Romick (Trades, Portfolio) is the portfolio manager of the FPA Crescent Fund. In the fourth quarter, the guru reduced his position in or exited the following stocks.Â

Romick's Legg Mason Inc. (LM, Financial) position was closed, impacting the portfolio by -1.45%.

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The asset management company has a market cap of $3.94 billion and an enterprise value of $5.03 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The return on equity (ROE) of 6.15% and return on assets (ROA) of 3.09% are underperforming 55% of companies in the Global Asset Management industry. Its financial strength is rated 5 out of 10 with a cash-debt ratio of 0.52.

First Pacific Advisors (Trades, Portfolio) is the company's largest shareholder among the gurus with 4.34% of outstanding shares, followed by Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) with 3.19% and Richard Pzena (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.7%.

The guru trimmed 45.72% off his stake in Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM, Financial). The trade had an impact of -0.6% on the portfolio.

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The wireless technology developer has a market cap of $96.86 billion and an enterprise value of $81.45 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 7 out of 10. The ROE of 7.88% and ROA of 4.24% are outperforming 70% of companies in the Global Semiconductors industry. Its financial strength is rated 6 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 1.70 is above the industry median of 1.62.

The company's largest guru shareholder is Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss with 1.73% of outstanding shares, followed by PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.04% and the T Rowe Price Equity Income Fund (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.42%.

The American Express Co. (AXP, Financial) position was reduced by 22.09%. The transaction had an impact of -0.53% on the portfolio.

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The credit card company has a market cap of $87.43 billion and an enterprise value of $112.38 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 6 out of 10. The ROE of 22.16% and ROA of 2.94% are outperforming 56% of companies in the Global Credit Services industry. Its financial strength is rated 4 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.51 is below the industry median of 2.52.

With 17.47% of outstanding shares, Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) is the company's largest guru shareholder, followed by Dodge & Cox with 3.1%, Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss with 1.84%, First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.49% and Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.33%.

 Romick's Bank of America Corp. (BAC, Financial) stake was reduced by 8.90%, impacting the portfolio by -0.43%.

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The bank has a market cap of $319.8 billion and an enterprise value of $421.6 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 3 out of 10. The ROE of 6.94% and ROA of 0.91% are underperforming 66% of companies in the Global Banks – Global industry. Its financial strength is rated 4 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.70 is below the industry median of 2.05.

The company's largest shareholder among the gurus is Buffett with 6.51% of outstanding shares, followed by Dodge & Cox with 1.63% and Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss with 0.58%.

The guru reduced his Lenta Ltd. (LSE:LNTR, Financial) holding by 76.91%, impacting the portfolio by -0.38%.

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Romick also reduced his position in Citigroup Inc. (C, Financial) by 7.98%. The trade had an impact of -0.36% on the portfolio.

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The bank has a market cap of $199.78 billion and an enterprise value of $304.73 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 5 out of 10. The ROE of 6.24% and ROA of 0.85% are underperforming 69% of companies in the Global Banks industry. Its financial strength is rated 4 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.69 is below the industry median of 2.05.

Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss is the company's largest guru shareholder with 0.57% of outstanding shares, followed by Hotchkis & Wiley with 0.46%, Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.36% and Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.33%.

The Alcoa Corp. (AA, Financial) holding was reduced by 44.02%, impacting the portfolio by -0.34%.

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The integrated aluminum company has a market cap of $10.53 billion and an enterprise value of $13.07 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 3 out of 10. The ROE of 4.75% and ROA of 1.69% are outperforming 71% of companies in the Global Aluminum industry. Its financial strength is rated 6 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio is 0.80.

The largest shareholder of the company among the gurus is Paul Singer (Trades, Portfolio) with 4.55% of outstanding shares followed by Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.17%, First Pacific Advisors (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.14% and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.06%.

The investor's Aon PLC (AON, Financial) position was reduced by 5.14%. The transaction had an impact of -0.26% on the portfolio.

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The insurance broker has a market cap of $33.8 billion and enterprise value of $37.45 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The ROE of 31.05% and ROA of 6.43% are outperforming 78% of companies in the Global Insurance Brokers industry. Its financial strength is rated 5 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio is 0.40.

First Pacific Advisors (Trades, Portfolio) is the company's largest guru shareholder with 1.79% of outstanding shares, followed by Romick with 1.32% and Nygren with 1.04%.

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