Most value investors pride themselves on not following the crowd and investing in stocks where they see worth but that others have declined. Sometimes their perspectives on an opportunity line up, however, and multiple investors buy shares of the same company.
For bargain investors, values continued not to appear in abundance in the first quarter. The S&P 500 returned 0.95% for the period, and the stock market has been on its longest bull run in the past 70 years, increasing 95% over the past five years. As Steven Romick (Trades, Portfolio) of FPA Crescent Fund said:
“Call [our company] old-fashioned but we continue to want to receive more in return than what we offer. That’s something we’re finding rather challenging in the market today with P/Es marking time in the 95th percentile.”
The S&P 500 Screener shows which stocks the most gurus purchased in the first quarter. The most-bought companies were: Microsoft (MSFT, Financial), Cisco (CSCO, Financial), Google (GOOG, Financial), Bank of America (BAC, Financial) and General Motors (GM, Financial).
A total of 24 gurus bought shares of Microsoft in the first quarter. The largest increase was made by Steven Mandel, who added 165.8% to his position for a holding sized at 14,486,109 shares and worth 2.23% of his portfolio.
Microsoft Corp was founded in 1975. It was incorporated in the State of Washington. Microsoft Corp has a market cap of $378.43 billion; its shares were traded at around $46.85 with a P/E ratio of 19.70 and P/S ratio of 4.10. The dividend yield of Microsoft Corp stocks is 2.60%. Microsoft Corp had an annual average earnings growth of 13.80% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Microsoft Corp the business predictability rank of 3.5-star.
Twenty-one gurus purchased Cisco shares in the first quarter. Caxton Associates (Trades, Portfolio) made the largest new buy with 1,327,000 new shares held for a 1.51% portfolio holding.
Cisco Systems Inc. was incorporated in California on Dec. 10, 1984. Cisco Systems Inc. has a market cap of $148.86 billion; its shares were traded at around $29.09 with a P/E ratio of 16.80 and P/S ratio of 3.10. The dividend yield of Cisco Systems Inc. stocks is 2.70%. Cisco Systems Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 8.50% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Cisco Systems Inc. the business predictability rank of 4-star.
Twenty-one gurus purchased Google in the first quarter. The greatest buy was from Mason Hawkins whose firm purchased 916,019 shares reflecting 3.14% of their portfolio.
Google Inc. was incorporated in California on Sept. 4, 1998 and reincorporated in Delaware in August 2003. Google Inc. has a market cap of $363.77 billion; its shares were traded at around $540.31 with a P/E ratio of 25.40 and P/S ratio of 5.50. Google Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 31.0% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Google Inc. the business predictability rank of 3-star.
Bank of America (BAC, Financial)
Bank of America shares were purchased by 19 gurus in the first quarter. NWQ Managers (Trades, Portfolio) made the largest new buy at 3,245,680 equating to 0.62% of their portfolio.
Bank of America Corporation was incorporated on July 31, 1998 in Delaware. Bank of America Corporation has a market cap of $173.18 billion; its shares were traded at around $16.93 with a P/E ratio of 25.20 and P/S ratio of 2.20. The dividend yield of Bank of America Corporation stocks is 1.0%. Bank of America Corporation had an annual average earnings growth of 15.10% over the past five years.
General Motors (GM, Financial)
Nineteen gurus also purchased GM shares in the first quarter. David Einhorn (Trades, Portfolio) was the biggest new buyer, with 9,467,986 shares, which is 4.64% of his portfolio.
General Motors Co. was incorporated as a Delaware corporation in 2009. General Motors Co. has a market cap of $57.78 billion; its shares were traded at around $35.94 with a P/E ratio of 16.90 and P/S ratio of 0.4. The dividend yield of General Motors Co. stocks is 3.3%.
See more stocks bought by the most – or fewest – Gurus at the S&P 500 Screener here. Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Try it free for 7 days here.
