Investment firm Kahn Brothers (Trades, Portfolio) & Co. Inc. sold shares of the following stocks during the fourth quarter.
Merck
The firm trimmed 48.68% off its Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK, Financial) stake. The portfolio was impacted by -5.50%.
The pharmaceutical company has a market cap of $219.21 billion and an enterprise value of $237.37 billion.
GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The return on equity of 32.99% and return on assets of 11.16% are outperforming 84% of companies in the drug manufacturers industry. Its financial strength is rated 5 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.31 is below the industry median of 0.93.
The largest guru shareholder of the company is the Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.48% of outstanding shares, followed by Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.35% and Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.32%.
Citigroup
The firm reduced its Citigroup Inc. (C) position by 5.1%. The portfolio was impacted by -0.47%.
The financial services company has a market cap of $162.17 billion.
GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 4 out of 10. The return on equity of 9.42% and return on assets of 0.99% are outperforming 50% of companies in the banks industry. Its financial strength is rated 3 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.66 is below the industry median of 1.17.
The largest guru shareholder of the company is Jeff Ubben (Trades, Portfolio)’s ValueAct with 1.28% of outstanding shares, followed by Hotchkis & Wiley with 0.47%, Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.45% and Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.39%.
Assured Guaranty
The firm reduced the Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGO, Financial) holding by 3.09%, impacting the portfolio by -0.27%.
The company, which provides financial guaranty insurance, has a market cap of $4.50 billion and an enterprise value of $4.34 billion.
GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 6 out of 10. While the return on equity of 5.32% is underperforming the sector, the return on assets of 2.6% is outperforming 64% of companies in the insurance industry. Its financial strength is rated 3 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.19 is below the industry median of 2.8.
Another notable shareholder of the company is Arnold Schneider (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.47% of outstanding shares, followed by Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.41%, Pioneer Investments with 0.30%, Diamond Hill Capital with 0.10% and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio)’ Renaissance Technologies with 0.10%.
New York Community Bancorp
Kahn Brothers trimmed the New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYCB, Financial) position by 3.03%. The trade had an impact of -0.26% on the portfolio.
The bank has a market cap of $5.44 billion and an enterprise value of $12.36 billion.
GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 4 out of 10. The return on equity of 5.36% and return on assets of 0.76% are underperforming 76% of companies in the banks industry. Its financial strength is rated 2 out of 10 with a cash-debt ratio of 0.07.
The company's largest guru shareholders include Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss with 8.71% of outstanding shares, Simons’ firm with 0.79%, Royce with 0.04% and Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.01%.
BP
The firm trimmed its BP PLC (BP, Financial) holding by 3.09%. The portfolio was impacted by -0.25%.
The oil producer has a market cap of $126.49 billion and an enterprise value of $187.79 billion.
GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 5 out of 10. The return on equity of 4.67% and return on assets of 1.63% are outperforming 59% of companies in the oil and gas industry. Its financial strength is rated 5 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.26 is below the industry median of 0.35
The largest guru shareholder of the company is Simons’ firm with 0.53% of outstanding shares, followed by Fisher with 0.27% and Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss with 0.26%.
Sterling Bancorp
The investment firm curbed its position in Sterling Bancorp (STL, Financial) by 19.1%. The portfolio was impacted by -0.23%.
The bank has a market cap of $4.05 billion and an enterprise value of $3.54 billion.
GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 5 out of 10. While the return on equity of 9.37% is underperforming the sector, the return on assets of 1.4% is outperforming 74% of companies in the banks industry. Its financial strength is rated 2 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.12 is below the industry median of 1.17.
The largest guru shareholder of the company is Diamond Hill Capital with 2.48% of outstanding shares, followed by Gabelli with 0.52%, Pioneer Investments with 0.05% and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.02%.
MBIA
The firm trimmed its position in MBIA Inc. (MBI, Financial) by 3.36%. The portfolio was impacted by -0.22%.
The financial guaranty insurance provider has a market cap of $736.47 million and an enterprise value of $4.74 billion.
GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 3 out of 10. The return on equity of -11.2% and return on assets of -1.48% are underperforming 92% of companies in the insurance industry. Its financial strength is rated 2 out of 10 with a cash-debt ratio of 0.02.
The firm is the largest guru shareholder of the company with 6.75% of outstanding shares, followed by Francis Chou (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.82%.
Disclosure: I do not own any stocks mentioned.
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