Bridgewater Associates, the $154 billion hedge fund led by Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), had somewhat unusual purchasing activity in the third quarter, going on a diversification tear, the update released today showed.
Dalio’s team purchased a vast 210 new stocks, a large proportion of which were in tiny quantities of less than 0.01% of the portfolio. The quarter ended with a total of 431 positions in Bridgewater’s $7.5 billion long portfolio, with 14% quarter-over-quarter turnover.
Dalio also significantly reduced exposure to his largest positions, in some ETFs, cutting his Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF holding by more than 40% and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF by more than 41%. The S&P 500 Index remained his second-largest holding at 26.3% of the portfolio, trimmed by little over 2% during the quarter.
In a September interview with Bloomberg, Dalio predicted a downturn in the economy and for the next decade to return only 3% to 4% across asset classes.
The biggest new stock positions initiated by Dalio and Bridgewater in the third quarter were: Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL, Financial), AT&T Inc. (T, Financial), FedEx Corp. (FDX, Financial), Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (HST, Financial) and Oracle Corp. (ORCL, Financial).
Ralph Lauren Corp. (RL, Financial)
Dalio purchased 156,858 shares of Ralpha Lauren in the third quarter, 0.25% portfolio weight. The company’s stock price average for the quarter was $119.
Ralph Lauren Corp., formerly Polo Ralph Lauren Corp., was incorporated on March 20, 1997, under the laws of the State of Delaware. Ralph Lauren Corp. has a market cap of $10.45 billion; its shares were traded at around $123.43 with a P/E ratio of 18.17 and P/S ratio of 1.45. The dividend yield of Ralph Lauren Corp. stocks is 1.57%. Ralph Lauren Corp. had an annual average earnings growth of 12.9% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Ralph Lauren Corp. the business predictability rank of 5-star.
Dalio purchased 18,505 shares of AT&T Corp., a 0.25% portfolio weight. The company’s stock price averaged $34.
AT&T Inc. was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on Oct. 5, 1983. AT&T Inc. has a market cap of $201.35 billion; its shares were traded at around $32.73 with a P/E ratio of 37.23 and P/S ratio of 1.27. The dividend yield of AT&T Inc. stocks is 5.73%. AT&T Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 3.0% over the past 10 years.
Dalio purchased 123,082 shares of FedEx Corp., a 0.24% portfolio weight. The third quarter share price averaged $160.
FedEx Corp. was incorporated in Delaware on Oct. 2, 1997. FedEx Corp. has a market cap of $44.93 billion; its shares were traded at around $159.10 with a P/E ratio of 40.75 and P/S ratio of 0.95. The dividend yield of FedEx Corp. stocks is 0.57%. FedEx Corp. had an annual average earnings growth of 2.6% over the past 10 years.
Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (HST, Financial)
Dalio purchased 1,014,218 shares of Host Hotels & Resorts, a 0.21% portfolio weight. The stock’s price averaged $19 per share.
Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. was incorporated as a Maryland corporation in 1998 and operates as a self-managed and self-administered REIT. Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. has a market cap of $12.84 billion; its shares were traded at around $17.08 with a P/E ratio of 21.16 and P/S ratio of 2.49. The dividend yield of Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. stocks is 4.67%. Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 8.6% over the past five years.
Oracle Corp. (ORCL, Financial)
Dalio purchased 424,628 shares of Oracle Corp., a 0.21% portfolio weight. The stock’s average price was $38 per share.
Oracle Corp. was incorporated in Delaware on Sept. 9, 2005. Oracle Corp. has a market cap of $165.84 billion; its shares were traded at around $38.85 with a P/E ratio of 18.26 and P/S ratio of 4.56. The dividend yield of Oracle Corp. stocks is 1.46%. Oracle Corp. had an annual average earnings growth of 16.2% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Oracle Corp. the business predictability rank of 3.5-star.
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