During the campaigns in the recently concluded midterm elections, incumbent Democrats were reluctant to speak of Obamacare, almost as hesitant as they were to be seen with the president, on the campaign trail.
But hedge fund manager Larry Robbins (Trades, Portfolio), founder and CEO of Glenview Capital Management, is “the rare Wall Streeter who likes the Affordable Care Act,” observed Erin Arvedlund in Barron’s last year. Robbins’ portfolio clearly shows a preference for healthcare-related stocks with nearly 38% of his holdings in that sector, and his top purchase in the third quarter reflects that.
Since Robbins founded Glenview Capital 14 years ago, its annualized rate of return has been approximately 15%.
New buys and additions
The third-quarter stock purchase that had the greatest influence on Robbins’ portfolio was his acquisition of 1,717,858 shares of Actavis PLC (ACT, Financial), an Illinois-based pharmaceutical company, for an average price of $223.78 per share. The deal had a 2.2% impact on his portfolio.
That was the only stock that Robbins purchased in the third quarter that had an impact of 1% or greater on his portfolio.
Other healthcare stocks that Robbins added to his portfolio in the third quarter were Centene Corp (CNC, Financial), a Missouri-based company that serves government healthcare programs for the uninsured and the under-insured, and Endo International PLC (ENDP, Financial), a healthcare company based in Dublin, Ireland. Centene is new to Robbins’ portfolio. Robbins added to his existing stake in Endo.
Robbins bought 1,603,973 shares of Centene stock for an average price of $77.09 per share. The purchase had a 0.69% impact on his portfolio.
He added 1,727,854 shares to his existing stake in Endo to his portfolio for an average price of $65.8, raising his stake to more than 5.6 million shares. The transaction had a 0.61% impact on his portfolio.
Other stocks that are new to Robbins’ portfolio are Danaher Corp (DHR, Financial), an industrial and consumer products company based in Washington, D.C.; Realogy Holdings Corp (RLGY, Financial), a New Jersey-based real estate company; Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (FOXA, Financial), a New York-based mass media company, and Voya Financial Inc (VOYA, Financial), a retirement, investment and insurance company based in New York.
Robbins bought 5,000,000 shares of Danaher at an average price of $76.53. That purchase had a 2% impact on his portfolio.
He bought 5,882,013 shares of Realogy for an average price of $39.22. That transaction had a 1.1% impact on his portfolio.
Robbins acquired 5,387,267 shares of Twenty-First Century Fox for an average price of $34.58 per share. The buy had a 0.97% impact on his portfolio.
Other new additions to his portfolio included holdings in TransCanada Corp (TRP, Financial), Dow Chemical Co (DOW, Financial) and Mohawk Industries Inc (MHK, Financial).
Robbins added to his stake in Pentair PLC (PNR, Financial), a Switzerland-based industrial machinery company, in the third quarter. He added 5,896,754 shares for an average price of $68.95 a share. The transaction had a 2.01% impact on his portfolio.
Other companies in which Robbins added to his stakes were Monsanto Co (MON), Liberty Global PLC (LBTYA) (LBTYK), Fidelity National Financial Inc (FNF) and Brookdale Senior Living Inc (BKD).
Divestitures and reductions
Robbins sold his stakes in eight stocks – Walgreen Co (WAG), Aon PLC (AON), SeaWorld Entertainment Inc (SEAS), CareFusion Corp (CFN), The ADT Corp (ADT), NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI), Fidelity National Information Services Inc (FIS) and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (CP).
He also reduced his holdings in 17 companies – American International Group Inc (AIG), McKesson Corp (MCK), HCA Holdings Inc (HCA), Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC), Applied Materials Inc (AMAT), Phillips 66 (PSX), CBS Corp (CBS), Citigroup Inc (C), Dollar General Corp (DG), Advance Auto Parts Inc (AAP), WellPoint Inc (WLP), Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO), JC Penney Co Inc (JCP), Sprint Corp (S), National Oilwell Varco Inc (NOV), Babcock & Wilcox Co (BWC) and Meritor Inc (MTOR).
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