Noted investor Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio) incorporated 23 new stocks into his vast portfolio of 359 positions in the first quarter.
The changes he and his managers made during the quarter brought about 4% turnover from the previous quarter in the portfolio valued at $25.9 billion.
Baron’s most-represented sector among his holdings is consumer cyclical stocks, which constitute 23.6% of the portfolio. The other top sectors are 19.1% Industrials and 16.6% Technology.
Baron discussed some of his strategy going forward in his first quarter shareholder letter:
“We are presently investing in health care and biotech research. We believe it likely there will be opportunities to invest in such businesses at attractive prices, although we do not think now is that time. We are preparing for those opportunities if they occur, however. This is analogous to our efforts in the late 1990s when Internet stocks rose to prices we believed were unsustainably high. Although we thought many Internet businesses had promising prospects, we chose to invest instead in Internet analysts and managers for our firm. When Information Technology and Internet related stocks subsequently fell, we invested billions and have since made billions.”
The Baron Funds’ top new holdings in the first quarter were: Inovalon Holdings Inc. (INOV, Financial), MGM Resorts International (MGM, Financial), Summit Materials Inc. (SUM, Financial) and Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ASPX, Financial).
Inovalon Holdings Inc. (INOV, Financial)
Baron purchased 4,305,163 shares of Inovalon Holdings Inc., a 0.5% portfolio holding. The stock’s first quarter average share price was $30.
Inovalon Holdings Inc. was incorporated in the state of Delaware on September 11, 2014. Inovalon Holdings Inc. has a market cap of $3.92 billion; its shares were traded at around $26.58 with and P/S ratio of 1.59.
MGM Resorts International (MGM, Financial)
Baron purchased 2,959,675 shares of MGM Resorts International, a 0.24% portfolio holding. The company’s first quarter stock price average was $21 per share.
MGM Resorts International was originally organized as MGM Grand Inc. MGM Resorts International has a market cap of $11.29 billion; its shares were traded at around $20.05 with and P/S ratio of 1.04.
Summit Materials Inc. (SUM, Financial)
Baron purchased 1.25 million shares of Summit Materials Inc., a 0.11% portfolio holding. The company’s first quarter average stock price was $22 per share.
Summit Materials Inc. was formed as a Delaware corporation on Sept. 23, 2014. Summit Materials Inc. has a market cap of $2.63 billion; its shares were traded at around $27.50 with a P/E ratio of 249.9 and P/S ratio of 0.52.
Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ASPX, Financial)
Baron purchased 250,000 shares of Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc., a 0.1% portfolio holding. The company’s first quarter average stock price was $67 per share.
Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc. was incorporated on Feb. 28, 2001. Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a market cap of $3.21 billion; its shares were traded at around $100.96.
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