John Hussman Trims Microsoft and Aflac, Exits Medtronic

Investor's largest 1st-quarter sales

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May 04, 2017
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John Hussman (Trades, Portfolio) manages a portfolio composed of 194 stocks with a total value of $452 million. During the first quarter, the guru sold shares of the following stocks.

The investor closed his position in Medtronic PLCĂ‚ (MDT) with an impact of -1.77% on the portfolio.

The company is engaged in providing medical technology alleviating pain, restoring health and extending lives. It currently functions in four operating segments that manufacture and sell device-based medical therapies.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The return on equity (ROE) of 7.83% and return on assets (ROA) of 3.99% are outperforming 64% of the companies in the Global Medical Devices industry. Financial strength has a rating of 5 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.36 is below the industry median of 2.55.

The largest shareholder among the gurus is Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss with 1.5% of outstanding shares followed by Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.41%, PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.93%, Dodge & Cox with 0.78% and Manning & Napier Advisors Inc. with 0.41%.

The guru exited KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) with an impact of -1.57% on the portfolio.

The company is a supplier of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related nanoelectronics industries.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 6 out of 10. The ROE of 115.95% and ROA of 18.71% are outperforming 95% of the companies in the Global Semiconductor Equipment & Materials industry. Financial strength has a rating of 5 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.92 is below the industry median of 1.77.

PRIMECAP Management is the largest shareholder among the gurus with 8.94% of outstanding shares followed by Ken Heebner (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.33%, Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.3%, Jerome Dodson (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.16%, Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.15%, Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.12% and Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.11%.

The guru trimmed his shares in Aflac Inc. (AFL) by 78.96% with an impact of -1.38% on the portfolio.

It is a general business holding company and acts as a management company. The company sells supplemental health and life insurance in the U.S. and Japan.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 5 out of 10. The ROE of 11.87% and ROA of 1.86% are outperforming 78% of the companies in the Global Insurance – Life industry. Financial strength has a rating of 6 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 0.91 is below the industry median of 8.23.

The largest shareholder among the gurus is Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio) with 1.23% of outstanding shares followed by John Rogers (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.41%, RS Investment Management (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.19%, Simons with 0.15%, Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.15% and Jeff Auxier (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.02%.

The investor closed his holding of Masimo Corp. (MASI) with an impact of -1.37% on the portfolio.

It is a medical technology company. It develops, manufactures and markets noninvasive monitoring technologies. Its product includes noninvasive blood constituent and brain and breath monitoring.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 9 out of 10. The ROE of 86.80% and ROA of 45.75% are outperforming 99% of the companies in the Global Medical Devices industry. Financial strength has a rating of 7 out of 10. The high cash-debt ratio of 4,309.44 is well above the industry median of 2.55.

Columbia Wanger (Trades, Portfolio) is another notable shareholder among the gurus with 1.63% of outstanding shares followed by Cohen with 0.38%, Simons with 0.34%, Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.25%, Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.11% and Greenblatt with 0.08%.

The guru closed his position in Orbotech Ltd. (ORBK). The trade had an impact of -1.33% on the portfolio.

It is engaged in the design, development, manufacture, marketing and service of yield-enhancing and production solutions for specialized applications in the supply chain of the electronics industry.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 7 out of 10. The ROE of 11.92% and ROA of 7.51% are outperforming 74% of the companies in the Global Scientific & Technical Instruments industry. Financial strength has a rating of 7 out of 10 with a cash-debt ratio of 2.45 that is above the industry median of 1.55.

The largest shareholder among the gurus is Simons with 4.98% of outstanding shares followed by Royce with 1.48% and Richard Snow (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.22%.

The guru closed his stake in Ulta Beauty Inc. (ULTA) with an impact of -1.27% on the portfolio.

It is a holding company engaged in the retail sale of beauty products in the U.S. and is also known as the premier beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin, hair care products and salon services.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 9 out of 10. The ROE of 28.63% and ROA of 17.28% are outperforming 91% of the companies in the Global Specialty Retail industry. Financial strength has a rating of 9 out of 10 with no debts.

Steve Mandel (Trades, Portfolio) is the largest shareholder among the gurus with 2.89% of outstanding shares followed by John Griffin (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.9%, Spiros Segalas (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.88%, Cohen with 0.77%, RS Investment Management with 0.19%, Columbia Wanger with 0.18% and Pioneer Investments with 0.07%.

The investor nearly closed his position in American Electric Power Co. Inc. (AEP), cutting it by 99.01% with an impact of -1.26% on the portfolio.

It is a public utility holding company that through its subsidiaries provides electric service consisting of generation, transmission and distribution on an integrated basis to its retail customers.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 7 out of 10. The ROE of 3.95% and ROA of 1.12% are underperforming 76% of the companies in the Global Utilities - Regulated Electric industry. Financial strength has a rating of 4 out of 10 with a cash-debt ratio of 0.02 that is below the industry median of 0.25.

The largest shareholder among the gurus is Pioneer Investments with 0.84% of outstanding shares followed by Simons with 0.79%.

The investor reduced his shares in Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) by 66.67%. The transaction had an impact of -1.24% on the portfolio.

The company is engaged in designing, manufacturing, selling devices and online advertising. Its products include operating systems for computing devices, servers, phones and other devices.

GuruFocus gives the stock a profitability and growth rating of 7 out of 10. The ROE of 25.04% and ROA of 8.58% are outperforming 75% of the companies in the Global Software - Infrastructure industry. Financial strength has a rating of 6 out of 10. The cash-debt ratio of 1.50 is below the industry median of 10.13.

PRIMECAP Management is the largest shareholder among the gurus with 0.69% of outstanding shares followed by Dodge & Cox with 0.55%, Jeff Ubben (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.5%, First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.31%, Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.28%, Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) with 0.24% and Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss with 0.24%.

Disclosure: I do not own any shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.

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