Five of Zeke Ashton (Trades, Portfolio)’s top six transactions in the second quarter were acquisitions of shares in companies that are new to the portfolio.
Ashton invested in 10 new holdings in all.
Ashton’s most noteworthy acquisition of the quarter was the purchase of 45,500 shares in Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH, Financial), an IT services and consulting company based in New Jersey, for an average price of $60.46 per share. The transaction had a 3.93% impact on the portfolio.
David Rolfe (Trades, Portfolio) is Cognizant’s leading shareholder among the gurus with a stake of 5,624,679 shares. The stake is 0.93% of Cognizant’s outstanding shares and 6.52% of the guru’s total assets.
Cognizant has a price-earnings (P/E) ratio of 22.76, a forward P/E of 15.65, a price-book (P/B) ratio of 3.47 and a price-sales (P/S) ratio of 2.65. GuruFocus gives Cognizant a Financial Strength rating of 8/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10 with ROE of 16.42% that is higher than 78% of the companies in the Global Information Technology Services industry and ROA of 12.02% that is higher than 85% of the companies in that industry.
Cognizant sold for $56.16 per share at market close Thursday. The DCF Calculator gives Cognizant a fair value of $70.32 with a 20% margin of safety.
Ashton invested in 46,000 shares in IAC/InterActiveCorp (IAC, Financial), an Internet company based in New York City, for an average price of $51.75 per share. The deal had a 3.91% impact on the portfolio.
Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio) is the company’s leading shareholder among the gurus with a stake of 1,205,190 shares. The stake is 1.51% of IAC/InterActiveCorp’s outstanding shares and 0.65% of Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio)’s total assets.
IAC/InterActiveCorp has a forward P/E of 14.66, a P/B of 2.59 and a P/S of 1.54. GuruFocus gives IAC/InterActiveCorp a Financial Strength rating of 5/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 7/10 with ROE of -8.17% that is lower than 74% of the companies in the Global Internet Content & Information industry and ROA of -3.32% that is lower than 66% of the companies in that industry.
IAC/InterActiveCorp sold for $59 per share Thursday. The DCF Calculator gives IAC/InterActiveCorp a fair value of $-21.4.
Ashton acquired 12,300 shares in Enstar Group (ESGR, Financial), a Bermuda-based manager of insurance and reinsurance companies for an average price of $157.81 per share. The transaction had a 3.01% impact on the portfolio.
Chuck Akre (Trades, Portfolio) is Enstar’s leading shareholder among the gurus with a stake of 1,451,010 shares. The stake is 7.49% of Enstar’s outstanding shares and 4.64% of Akre’s total assets.
Enstar has a P/E of 12.89, a P/B of 1.24 and a P/S of 2.87. GuruFocus gives Enstar a Financial Strength rating of 6/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 7/10 with ROE of 9.84% that is higher than 60% of the companies in the Global Insurance – Diversified industry and ROA of 2.00% that is higher than 54% of the companies in that industry.
Enstar Group sold for $164.45 per share Thursday. The DCF Calculator gives Enstar Group a fair value of $232.93 with a 29% margin of safety.
Ashton purchased 21,500 shares in Gilead Sciences (GILD, Financial), a California-based pharmaceutical company, for an average price of $88.79 per share. The deal had a 2.71% impact on the guru’s portfolio.
Gilead’s leading shareholder among the gurus is Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) with a stake of 3,465,144 shares. The stake is 0.26% of Gilead’s outstanding shares and 1.07% of Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio)’ total assets.
Gilead has a P/E of 6.94, a forward P/E of 6.72, a P/B of 6.74 and a P/S of 3.54. GuruFocus gives Gilead a Financial Strength rating of 6/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10 with ROE of 100.69% that is higher than 99% of the companies in the Global Biotechnology industry and ROA of 34.14% that is higher than 98% of the companies in that industry.
Gilead sold for $78.99 per share Thursday. The DCF Calculator gives Gilead a fair value of $121.46 with a 35% margin of safety.
Ashton acquired 46,000 shares in Brown & Brown (BRO, Financial), a Florida-based insurance provider, for an average price of $35.53 per share. The transaction had a 2.6% impact on the portfolio.
Brown & Brown’s leading shareholder among the gurus is First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio) with a 6,921,062-share stake. The stake is 4.95% of Brown & Brown’s outstanding shares and 0.66% of First Eagle’s total assets.
Brown & Brown has a P/E of 21.06, a forward P/E of 20, a P/B of 2.36 and a P/S of 3.06. GuruFocus gives Brown & Brown a Financial Strength rating of 5/10 and a Profitability and Growth rating of 8/10 with ROE of 11.35% that is higher than 70% of the companies in the Global Insurance Brokers industry and ROA of 5.03% that is higher than 73% of the companies in that industry.
Brown & Brown sold for $37.76 per share Thursday. The DCF Calculator gives Brown & Brown a fair value of $19.16.
Disclosure: I do not own any stocks mentioned in this article.
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