According to Consensus Picks, a GuruFocus premium feature, several first-quarter guru buys have seen their prices increase at triple-digit percentages from average. Holdings with the largest growth to present include LightPath Technologies Inc. (LPTH, Financial), Fastly Inc. (FSLY, Financial), Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (INO, Financial), Schrodinger Inc. (SDGR, Financial) and ACM Research Inc. (ACMR, Financial).
LightPath Technologies
In the first quarter, gurus Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio)' Renaissance Technologies and Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) both added to their positions in LightPath Technologies at an average price of 99 cents per share. Since the end of the first quarter, each purchase has seen a price change from average of 202.02% as of June 17.
Simons added 5.06% to his holding with the purchase of 17,681 shares. GuruFocus estimates the holding has a total gain of 105.95%.
Royce added to his portfolio by 11.87% with the purchase of an additional 173,800 shares. GuruFocus estimates the portfolio has seen a total gain on the holding of 70.14%.
As of June 17, the company was trading at $3 per share with a market cap of $78.10 million. GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength rating of 5 out of 10 and a profitability rank of 4 out of 10. The company has been decreasing its debt over the last several years, but still sees a lower-than-average operating margin of 0.92%. According to the Peter Lynch chart, the company was trading well below its intrinsic value over the last several years.
Fastly
Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) and Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio) both added shares of Fastly to their relatively new holdings at an average price of $20.75 per share. Since the release of their portfolios at the end of the first quarter, the price has risen from the average of 186.46%.
During the first quarter, Jones added 22,375 shares for a 148.11% increase in the holdng. GuruFocus estimates the portfolio has gained 185.07% with the holding.
Grantham added 233,384 shares to the holding for an increase of 63.08%. GuruFocus estimates that since the new holding was created in the second quarter of 2019, it has gained 122.13%.
On June 17, the company was trading at $58.60 per share with a market cap of $6.17 billion. GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength rating of 7 out of 10. The cash-to-debt ratio of 3.72 places it higher than 57.65% of software companies. However, low operating and net margin percentages place the company lower than over 70% of the industry.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals
During the quarter, Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Jones and Simons' firm made purchases of Inovio Pharmaceuticals at an average price of $5.07. Since the end of the quarter, the average price per share has risen by 174.75%.
Greenblatt bought back into the company with 58,327 shares for the first time since 2015. GuruFocus estimates the holding has gained 91.26%.
Jones bought back into the company for the first time since 2017 with the purchase of 22,712 shares. GuruFocus places the total estimated gain at 25.65%.
Simons' firm added to its existing holding with the purchase of 243,623 shares for an increase of 67.77%. GuruFocus estimates the holding has gained 55.84% for the firm.
June 17 saw the company trading at $13.95 per share with a market cap of $2.21 billion. GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength rating of 5 out of 10 and a profitability ranking of 1 out of 10. The company had maintained low levels of debt until 2019, but has seen operating cash flow continuously decrease since 2015.
Schrodinger
During the quarter, John Hussman (Trades, Portfolio), Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio) and Bill Gates (Trades, Portfolio)' foundation trust all purchased new holdings of Schrodinger at an average price of $37.48. Since the end of the quarter, the shares have seen their average prices increase by 96.61%.
Hussman bought into a new holding of 5,000 shares. Since the purchase, GuruFocus estimates the holding has gained 96.61%.
Baron purchased 950,014 shares during the quarter and has seen a total estimated gain of 96.61%.
Gates' foundation trust bought the biggest amount with the purchase of 6.98 million shares. The holding has seen a total estimated gain of 96.61%.
Shares of Shrodinger traded at $71.33 per share on June 17 with market cap of $4.55 billion. GuruFocus gives the company a finanical strength rating of 7 out of 10. The cash-to-debt ratio and equity-to-asset ratio both beat at least 85% of the industry and an Altman Z-Score of 47.47 places it well into the safe zone from bankruptcy.
ACM Research
The first quarter saw Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) and Hussman add new holdings of ACM Research at an average price of $33.29. Since the purchase, the change from average has risen to 89.53%.
Cohen purchased into 24,132 shares to create the new holding.
Hussman bought 20,000 new shares for an overall impact of 0.16% on the equity portfolio.
Both gurus have seen a total estimated gain of 89.53% on their holdings.
On June 17, the company was trading at $62.10 per share with a market cap of $1.13 billion. GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength of 8 out of 10 and a profitability of 5 out of 10. The company's cash-to-debt ratio and operating margin of 15.04% beat out the majority of industry competitors. According to the Peter Lynch chart, the company has been trading around its intrinsic value since 2018.
Disclaimer: Author owns no stocks mentioned.
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