Viking Global Partners LP, the firm led by Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio), disclosed in a regulatory 13F filing that its top five trades during the first quarter included new positions in Lululemon Athletica (LULU, Financial) and Sherwin-Williams Co. (SHW, Financial). The firm also reduced its holdings of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Financial), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN, Financial) and Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX, Financial).
Prior to founding the Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm, Halvorsen worked as senior managing director and director of equities at Tiger Management (Trades, Portfolio). Viking employs a research-intensive, long-term focused investing approach. Emphasis is placed on fundamental analysis and deep research on a company’s business model, fundamental data, management quality and cyclical and secular industry trends.
As of March, the firm’s $21.23 billion 13F equity portfolio contains 80 stocks, with 20 new positions and a quarterly turnover ratio of 25%. The top four sectors in terms of weight are health care, financial services, technology and industrials, accounting for 35.73%, 17.94%, 16.51% and 12.23% of the equity portfolio.
Investors should be aware 13F filings do not give a complete picture of a firm’s holdings as the reports only include its positions in U.S. stocks and American depository receipts, but they can still provide valuable information. Further, the reports only reflect trades and holdings as of the most-recent portfolio filing date, which may or may not be held by the reporting firm today or even when this article was published.
Lululemon Athletica
Viking invested in 1,893,883 shares of Lululemon Athletica (LULU, Financial), giving the position 3.25% equity portfolio weight. Shares averaged $313.51 during the first quarter; the stock is significantly undervalued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.55 as of Tuesday.
The Vancouver-based athletic footwear and accessories company has a GF Score of 99 out of 100 based on a rank of 10 out of 10 for profitability and growth, a momentum rank of 9 out of 10, a GF Value rank of 8 out of 10 and a financial strength rank of 7 out of 10.
Lululemon Athletica’s high profitability rank is driven by several positive investing signs, which include a 3.5-star business predictability rank and an operating margin that has increased by approximately 1.7% per year on average over the past five years and outperforms more than 94% of global competitors.
Other gurus with holdings in Lululemon Athletica include the Harbor Capital Appreciation Fund (Trades, Portfolio) and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio)' Renaissance Technologies.
Sherwin-Williams
Viking purchased 2,252,060 shares of Sherwin-Williams (SHW, Financial), giving the position 2.38% equity portfolio weight.
Shares of Sherwin-Williams averaged $228.85 during the first quarter; the stock is modestly undervalued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.75 as of Tuesday.
The Cleveland-based paint company has a GF Score of 93 out of 100 based on a rank of 10 out of 10 for profitability and growth, a GF Value rank of 9 out of 10, a momentum rank of 5 out of 10 and a financial strength rank of 4 out of 10.
Sherwin-Williams' high profitability rank is driven by several positive investing signs, which include a five-star business predictability rank, a high Piotroski F-score of 7 out of 9 and an operating margin that has increased by approximately 4.90% per year on average over the past five years.
Microsoft
The firm sold 2,381,775 shares of Microsoft (MSFT, Financial), chopping 69.46% of the position and 2.87% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of Microsoft averaged $255.08 during the first quarter; the stock is fairly valued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 1.03 as of Tuesday.
The Redmond, Washington-based software giant has a GF Score of 94 out of 100 based on a rank of 10 out of 10 for profitability and growth, a momentum rank of 9 out of 10, a financial strength rank of 8 out of 10 and a GF Value rank of 3 out of 10.
Microsoft’s high profitability rank is driven by several positive investing signs, which include a 3.5-star business predictability rank and an operating margin that has increased by approximately 7.5% per year on average over the past five years and outperforms more than 97% of global competitors.
Amazon
The firm sold 4,853,738 shares of Amazon (AMZN, Financial), slicing 38.89% of the position and 2.05% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of Amazon averaged $96.61 during the first quarter; the stock is significantly undervalued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.61 as of Tuesday.
The Seattle-based e-commerce giant has a GF Score of 94 out of 100 based on a rank of 10 out of 10 for growth and momentum, a financial strength rank of 6 out of 10 and a rank of 8 out of 10 for profitability and GF Value.
Amazon’s high growth rank is driven by several positive investing signs, which include a 4.5-star business predictability rank and three-year revenue and book value growth rates that are outperforming more than 84% of global competitors.
Boston Scientific
The firm sold 8,391,712 shares of Boston Scientific (BSX, Financial), chopping 88.07% of the position and 1.96% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of Boston Scientific averaged $47.13 during the first quarter; the stock is fairly valued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 1.04 as of Tuesday.
The Marlborough, Massachusetts-based medical device company has a GF Score of 75 out of 100 based on a GF Value rank of 3 out of 10 and a rank of 6 out of 10 for momentum, profitability, growth and financial strength.
