Seth Klarman (Trades, Portfolio) announced his fourth-quarter buying activity Thursday, showing that he found four stocks matching his criteria during the market’s 13.9% tumble in the final three months of 2018.
Klarman’s $11.13 billion public equity portfolio for the Boston-based Baupost Group showed fresh stakes in eBay Inc. (EBAY, Financial), Akebia Therapeutics Inc. (AKBA, Financial), CBS Corp. (CBS, Financial) and Nexstar Media Group Inc. (NXST, Financial). Online auction site eBay, the largest of the batch, represented 5.3% of the portfolio, making it Klarman’s ninth largest holding out of 35 listed securities.
Klarman is one of the most widely followed value investors and is considered by LCH Investments to have the fifth most profitable hedge fund in existence. A book about his price-conscious investing style, “Margin of Safety,” retails for around $881 to $1,891 on Amazon.
At fourth quarter-end, Klarman continued to have a sizable investment in Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA, Financial) leading his portfolio at 22.17% of its value, followed by Cheniere Energy (LNG, Financial) at 7.55%. His allocation to consumer cyclical stocks increased to 37.3% of the portfolio, up from 28.1% in the third quarter and the highest level in more than 10 years’ of data. Health care, the second largest sector epresented, shrank to 15.92% of the portfolio from 19.62%.
Klarman also during the fourth quarter exited from six positions: Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX, Financial), Novagold Resources Inc. (NG, Financial), Altaba Inc. (AABA, Financial), Tribune Media Co. (TRC, Financial), GTY Technology Holdings Inc. (GTYHU, Financial) and Saban Capital Acquisition Corp. (SCAC).
Klarman’s fourth-quarter buys
Klarman purchased 21 million shares of eBay. The stock’s fourth-quarter share price averaged $29.
eBay Inc. has a market cap of $33.3 billion; its shares were traded around $36.40 Thursday with a price-earnings ratio of 14.21 and price-sales ratio of 3.36. The forward dividend yield of eBay Inc stocks is 1.54%. eBay Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 5.5% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated eBay Inc. the business predictability rank of 2.5-star.
Akebia Therapeutics Inc. (AKBA, Financial)
Klarman purchased 24,471,453 shares of Akebia Therapeutics, giving it 1.22% portfolio weight. The stock’s fourth-quarter share price averaged $8.
Akebia Therapeutics Inc. has a market cap of $757.440 million; its shares were traded around $6.48 Thursday with a price-sales ratio of 1.42. Akebia Therapeutics Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 19.9% over the past five years.
Klarman purchased 2,547,059 shares of CBS Corp., giving it 1% portfolio weight. The stock’s fourth-quarter share price averaged $53.
CBS Corp. has a market cap of $18.44 billion; its shares were traded around $49.26 Thursday with a price-earnings ratio of 13.81 and price-sales ratio of 1.33. The trailing 12-month dividend yield of CBS Corp. stocks is 1.47%. The forward dividend yield of CBS Corp. stocks is 1.49%. CBS Corp. had an annual average earnings growth of 4.10% over the past five years.
Nexstar Media Group Inc. (NXST, Financial)
Klarman purchased 950,000 shares of Nexstar Media Group, giving it 0.67% portfolio weight. The stock’s fourth-quarter share price averaged $79.
Nexstar Media Group Inc. has a market cap of $4.04 billion; its shares were traded around $87.39 with a price-earnings ratio of 6.68 and price-sales ratio of 1.57. The trailing 12-month dividend yield of Nexstar Media Group Inc. stocks is 1.81%. The forward dividend yield of Nexstar Media Group Inc. stocks is 2.07%. Nexstar Media Group Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 22.70% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Nexstar Media Group Inc. the business predictability rank of 2.5-star.
See Seth Klarman (Trades, Portfolio)’s portfolio here.
