Wally Weitz Establishes 4 Positions in 4th Quarter

Top buys include Priceline and JPMorgan Chase

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Feb 15, 2018
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Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio), portfolio manager of Weitz Investment Management, disclosed on Thursday four new stock holdings for fourth-quarter 2017: The Priceline Group Inc. (PCLN, Financial), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM, Financial), Marvell Technology Group Inc. (MRVL, Financial) and Vulcan Materials Co. (VMC, Financial).

Priceline

Weitz invested in 5,520 shares of Priceline for an average price of $1,812.37 per share.

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Priceline, a major online travel agency, provides booking services for various hotels, airline tickets, rental cars and restaurant reservations. The company’s profitability ranks 9 out of 10 primarily due to consistent revenue growth and a strong Piotroski F-score of 7. While the company’s operating margin slightly contracted over the past five years, Priceline’s profit margins still outperform over 93% of global competitors.

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GuruFocus ranks Priceline’s business predictability a perfect five stars as the company has consistent revenue and earnings growth over the past 10 years.

JPMorgan Chase

Weitz invested in 12,500 shares of JPMorgan Chase for an average price of $101.20 per share.

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JPMorgan Chase’s profitability ranks a modest 5 out of 10. Although the New York-based bank has expanding profit margins, the margins outperform just 59% of global competitors. Additionally, JPMorgan’s three-year CAGR of sales underperforms 67% of global banks.

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Marvell

Weitz invested in 60,000 shares of Marvell for an average price of $20.37 per share.

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Santa Clara, California-based Marvell designs integrated circuits primarily for data storage, networking and communications. The company’s financial strength ranks 10 out of 10, driven primarily by robust interest coverage and a Piotroski F-score of a perfect 9. Additionally, Marvell’s Altman Z-score of 11.86 suggests little or no financial stress.

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Vulcan Materials

Weitz invested in 10,000 shares of Vulcan Materials for an average price of $122.12 per share.

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Alabama-based Vulcan produces various building materials, including crushed stone, sand and gravel. The company’s profitability ranks 8 out of 10, driven primarily by expanding operating margins and strong three-year CAGR of earnings.

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See also

You can view Weitz’s portfolio here. We also invited Weitz to be a guest on our podcast; you can listen to it on our website or iTunes.

Disclosure: No positions.