Parnassus Endeavor Fund Adds to Cisco, Alphabet

Fund's largest buys of the 4th quarter

Author's Avatar
Jan 15, 2020
Article's Main Image

The Parnassus Endeavor Fund (Trades, Portfolio), which is part of Jerome Dodson's firm that provides responsible investment funds to the public, acquired shares of the following stocks during the fourth quarter.

Cisco Systems

The fund boosted its Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO, Financial) stake by 500%. The portfolio was impacted by 5.03%.

151898d0ff3da846ab293df560747df8.png

The company, which provides data networking equipment and software, has a market cap of $202.74 billion and an enterprise value of $193.20 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 10 out of 10. The return on equity of 29.03% and return on assets of 11.1% are outperforming 88% of companies in the hardware industry. Its financial strength is rated 6 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 1.52 is above the industry median of 1.19.

The largest guru shareholder of the company is Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.72% of outstanding shares, followed by Dodge & Cox with 0.49% and PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.44%.

Progressive

The Endeavor Fund established a position in Progressive Corp. (PGR, Financial), buying 1.47 million shares. The portfolio was impacted by 3.20%.

a1fff476dda04ee4eb18f4973a2510c0.png

The insurance company has a market cap of $43.41 billion and an enterprise value of $46.80 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 7 out of 10. The return on equity of 25.2% and return on assets of 6.42% are outperforming 89% of companies in the insurance industry. Its financial strength is rated 3 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.01 is far below the industry median of 2.74.

The largest guru shareholder of the company is Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio)’ Renaissance Technologies with 0.99% of outstanding shares, followed by Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.97% and PRIMECAP Management with 0.46%.

Agilent Technologies

The fund increased its Agilent Technologies Inc. (A, Financial) holding by 50%, impacting the portfolio by 0.77%.

276b694bcd702beb1a2bbafcc459bf8d.png

The health care company has a market cap of $27.20 billion and an enterprise value of $28.32 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The return on equity of 22.11% and return on assets of 12.01% are outperforming 86% of companies in the medical diagnostics and research industry. Its financial strength is rated 6 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.57 is below the industry median of 1.52.

The largest guru shareholder of the company is PRIMECAP Management with 1.43% of outstanding shares, followed by Bill Ackman (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.94% and the Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.54%.

W.W. Grainger

The fund bolstered its W.W. Grainger Inc. (GWW, Financial) position by 38.89%. The trade had an impact of 0.71% on the portfolio.

930e0250d9cb1dfe7d0536b2c8c49252.png

The industrial supplies and equipment manufacturer has a market cap of $18.33 billion and an enterprise value of $20.43 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 9 out of 10. The return on equity of 49.15% and return on assets of 16.06% are outperforming 96% of companies in the industrial distribution industry. Its financial strength is rated 6 out of 10 with a cash-debt ratio of 0.13.

Other notable guru shareholders include Simons’ firm with 0.35% of outstanding shares, Pioneer Investments with 0.06% and Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.01%.

Expeditors International of Washington

Parnassus bought 300,000 shares of Expeditors International of Washington Inc. (EXPD, Financial). The portfolio was impacted by 0.70%.

da2b9d49f3686fff82fd9ed0ce30c497.png

The logistics company has a market cap of $13.41 billion and an enterprise value of $12.57 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 9 out of 10. The return on equity of 30.62% and return on assets of 17.92% are outperforming 94% of companies in the transportation industry. Its financial strength is rated 7 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 3.24 is above the industry median of 0.27.

The largest guru shareholder of the company is Pioneer Investments with 0.87% of outstanding shares, followed by Simons’ firm with 0.13%, Greenblatt with 0.10% and Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.06%.

Gilead Sciences

The investment fund added 13.04% to its position in Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD, Financial). The portfolio was impacted by 0.58%.

c5d0e3e003f2ada2b2ac8bf050d20293.png

The company, which develops therapies to treat life-threatening infectious diseases, has a market cap of $81.22 billion and an enterprise value of $83.09 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 10 out of 10. The return on equity of 12.31% and return on assets of 4.3% are outperforming 61% of companies in the drug manufacturers industry. Its financial strength is rated 5 out of 10 with a cash-debt ratio of 0.93.

Dodge & Cox is the largest guru shareholder of the company with 1.38% of outstanding shares, followed by Simons' firm with 1.16%, Pioneer Investments with 0.33% and the T Rowe Price Equity Income Fund (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.26%.

Charles Schwab

The fund boosted the Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW, Financial) stake by 7.61% The portfolio was impacted by 0.50%.

80c4683b0dd8b77faa9859ffc0a84634.png

The company, which is engaged in the brokerage, banking and asset management businesses, has a market cap of $61.29 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 5 out of 10. The return on equity of 17.06% and return on assets of 1.35% are outperforming 53% of companies in the capital markets industry. Its financial strength is rated 4 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 2.73 is above the industry median of 2.25.

The largest guru shareholder of the company is Dodge & Cox with 7.15% of outstanding shares, followed by PRIMECAP Management with 2.36%, Al Gore (Trades, Portfolio) with 2.11%, Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.73% and Ruane Cunniff with 0.68%.

Alphabet

Parnassus increased its Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL, Financial) position by 25%. The portfolio was impacted by 0.40%.

7664eb4d9df028dcebb48281efd7c677.png

The tech company has a market cap of $986.76 billion and an enterprise value of $879.33 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 10 out of 10. The return on equity of 17.76% and return on assets of 13.37% are outperforming 80% of companies in the interactive media industry. Its financial strength is rated 9 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 8.81 is above the industry median of 4.84.

The largest guru shareholder of the company is PRIMECAP Management with 0.30% of outstanding shares, followed by Fisher with 0.21%.

Disclosure: I do not own any stocks mentioned.

Read more here:

Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here.