Every quarter, many money managers have to disclose what they've bought and sold via 13F filings. Their latest moves can shine a bright light on smart stock picks.
Today, let's look at Lone Pine Capital, founded by Steve Mandel in 1997. Prior to that, Mandel was a managing director at Tiger Management. Lone Pine is one of the biggest hedge fund companies, and it has reportedly beat the S&P 500 for 11 years in a row. Like many value investors, Mandel is known to dig deep into companies, aiming to buy undervalued ones.
Lone Pine Capital's stock portfolio totaled $16.4 billion in value as of March 31, 2012. The fund's top three holdings, representing 15.5% of total assets, are El Paso, Google, and priceline.com.
Interesting developments
So what does Lone Pine Capital's latest quarterly 13F filing tell us? Here are a few interesting details.
New holdings include Ulta Salon
Among holdings in which Lone Pine increased its stake was Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
Lone Pine reduced its stake in lots of companies, including Las Vegas Sands
Finally, Lone Pine unloaded several companies, such as Baidu
Arco Dorados is the largest franchiser of McDonald's restaurants in the world and is focused on Latin America. It has been growing briskly, and adding scores of restaurants to its fold each year. But its stock recently took a big hit when the company posted some disappointing earnings, pointing to rising foreign-exchange losses and tax costs, among other causes. Some see the stock as simply more of a bargain now, though.
We should never blindly copy any investor's moves, no matter how talented the investor. But it can be useful to keep an eye on what smart folks are doing, and 13F forms can be great places to find intriguing candidates for our portfolios.
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