In this article, we discuss 10 favorite stocks of billionaire Izzy Englander. If you want to see more stock picks of the billionaire, go see 5 Favorite Stocks of Billionaire Izzy Englander.
Israel “Izzy” Englander is an American billionaire investor and the founder of Millennium Management, a hedge fund he established in 1989 with Ronald Shear. Izzy Englander is a New York University graduate, and he started his career with Kaufmann, Alsberg & Co., a Wall Street investment firm. Englander founded a floor brokerage house, I.A. Englander & Co., in 1997. Later, he established Jamie Securities Co. in 1985. His next venture was Millennium Management, which is a $196.7 billion hedge fund as of Q4 2021.
Millennium Management operates in America, Europe, and Asia, with its headquarters in New York. The hedge fund has more than 270 investment teams. Izzy Englander serves as the chairman, chief executive officer, and co-chief investment officer of Millennium. His fund controls assets under management of over $295 billion.
Izzy Englander’s Q4 portfolio concentrates its investments in the information technology, healthcare, finance, consumer discretionary, industrials, and communications sectors. The hedge fund’s top 10 stocks comprise 18.65% of the total 13F holdings. In Q4 2021, Millennium Management purchased 1186 new stocks and sold out of 1205 securities.
The billionaire’s most notable stocks in Q4 2021 include Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), among others discussed extensively below.
Our Methodology
We used the fourth quarter portfolio of Izzy Englander’s Millennium Management to select the billionaire’s top 10 stocks.
Israel Englander of Millennium Management
Favorite Stocks of Billionaire Izzy Englander
10. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)
Millennium Management’s Stake Value: $361,694,000
Percentage of Millennium Management’s 13F Portfolio: 0.18%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 94
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is an American multinational financial services company that operates via its core subsidiary, the Delaware-based Wells Fargo Bank. Citi analyst Keith Horowitz on April 11 upgraded Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) to Buy from Neutral.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, Izzy Englander’s Millennium Management held 7.5 million shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), worth $361.6 million, representing 0.18% of the hedge fund’s total 13F securities. Millennium increased its stake in the company by 452% in Q4 2021.
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) reported earnings for the first quarter of 2022, posting an EPS of $0.88, beating market consensus estimates by $0.07. Revenue over the period dropped 2.61% from the prior-year quarter, reaching $17.59 billion, falling short of analysts’ predictions by $232.38 million. The stock dropped when the company disclosed reduced share repurchases in the second quarter of 2022, and the inflationary pressures on operational expenditure.
According to Insider Monkey’s Q4 database, 94 hedge funds held Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in their public stock portfolios, up from 88 funds in the third quarter. The total stakes owned in the fourth quarter amounted to more than $6 billion. Boykin Curry’s Eagle Capital Management is the leading shareholder of the company, with over 20 million shares worth $961.4 million.
In addition to Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is one of the top favorite stocks of Izzy Englander.
Here is what Davis Opportunity Fund has to say about Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:
“The absolute level of revenues and profits generated by such companies is in fact so large that most of the major financial holdings in the portfolio produce enough annual operating income individually that a number of them could, in theory, purchase several entire businesses among hundreds of choices within the S&P 1500 Index, using just a year’s cash earnings without dipping into capital. This is theoretical, as financial companies would not be in the business of buying healthcare or technology companies, for example, but we point out these facts to illustrate the sheer scale of the economics produced by single financial companies in a given year, which is often a multiple of the cash earnings yielded by companies in a host of other industries.
Given this cash-generation power, we are naturally drawn to what we believe are strong and profitable financial institutions when the price is right. Presently, we believe the valuations of our financial holdings are not only reasonable, but extremely compelling, and our portfolio composition reflects this view. Representative financial holdings in the Fund include Wells Fargo.”
9. Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN)
Millennium Management’s Stake Value: $362,022,000
Percentage of Millennium Management’s 13F Portfolio: 0.18%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 55
Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN) is an American multinational computer software company that specializes in AI-powered speech synthesis and speech recognition applications. Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN) was acquired by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and operates as its subsidiary as of March 4, 2022.
The securities filings for Q4 2021 reveal that Izzy Englander’s Millennium Management owns 6.5 million shares of Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN), worth $362 million, representing 0.18% of the fund’s total 13F holdings.
Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN) was purchased by Microsoft for approximately $20 billion, or $56 per share in an all-cash transaction. The company has now stopped trading at the Nasdaq.
According to Insider Monkey’s fourth quarter database, 55 hedge funds were bullish on Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN), with collective stakes amounting to $4.6 billion, compared to 61 funds in the prior quarter, holding stakes in the company worth $4.8 billion. Matthew Halbower’s Pentwater Capital Management is the biggest position holder in the company, with 17.34 million shares worth $959.2 million.
Here is what Rhizome Partners has to say about Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN) in its Q3 2021 investor letter:
“We also exited our small position in Nuance upon Microsoft’s acquisition. Nuance is a leader in voice recognition software, with dominant market share, and its speech-to-text product is the gold standard in radiology. In addition, by eliminating the need for note taking and allowing doctors to focus on patient care, Nuance could transform the way doctors treat patients. We built a 1% position in Nuance after attending its comprehensive investor day. Our view is that if Nuance can successfully grow its voice-recognition software in doctor’s offices, it could be worth multiples of our cost basis. Microsoft’s acquisition eliminated the multi-bagger upside but also partially validates the belief that Nuance is a high-quality technology company. We exited Nuance with a 62% gain in less than a year. This example is representative of the slight adjustments we made to our portfolio construction. We will allocate to small bets on technology and high-growth companies that could increase our exposure to “right tail” upside. Rest assured that our focus is still roughly 50% real estate, 30% high-quality companies trading at cheap multiples of free cash flow, and the rest in investments with the potential for growth and higher upside.”
8. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Millennium Management’s Stake Value: $544,255,000
Percentage of Millennium Management’s 13F Portfolio: 0.27%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 158
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has featured on Izzy Englander’s stock portfolio since the third quarter of 2015. Latest 13F filings reveal that Millennium Management held 188,090 shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter of 2021, worth $544.25 million, representing 0.27% of the fund’s total securities. Izzy Englander boosted his stake in the company by 28% in Q4.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) posted solid financial results for Q4 on February 1, announcing earnings per share of $30.69, topping analysts’ estimates by $3.41. The $75.33 billion revenue was up 32.39% year-over-year, exceeding market consensus by $3.50 billion.
On March 18, Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth maintained a Strong Buy rating on Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and raised the firm’s price on the stock to $3,670 from $3,540. The analyst cited Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s “extremely strong” Q4 results and its investment in AI, which “continues to drive increasingly focused and helpful experiences for users and businesses”. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is building its expertise in numerous segments, such as Search, mobile, cloud, data centers, e-commerce, entertainment, home automation, autonomous vehicles, and health and fitness, the analyst added.
Chris Hohn’s TCI Fund Management is the leading Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) stakeholder as of Q4 2021, with approximately 3 million shares worth $8.5 billion. Overall, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) was found in the stock portfolios of 158 elite hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey.
Here is what Vulcan Value Partners has to say about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:
“In contrast, we made a different kind of mistake about a decade ago. Google, now Alphabet, performed very well for us while we owned it. The company kept outperforming our assumptions and we kept lowering them to be conservative. “Trees do not grow to the sky.” The stock kept going up and our value grew but did not keep pace with the stock. It hit our estimate of fair value and we sold it with a nice gain, patting ourselves on the back. We kept following the company and what they actually did over the next several years was roughly double the assumptions we used to value it. Therefore, our value was too conservative, and we sold it too cheaply, missing many years of compounding. Fortunately, we experienced some volatility several years ago that allowed us to purchase Alphabet (Google) again with a margin of safety.”
7. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB)
Millennium Management’s Stake Value: $557,445,000
Percentage of Millennium Management’s 13F Portfolio: 0.28%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 224
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. The company operates via two segments – Family of Apps and Reality Labs. Izzy Englander boosted his Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) stake by 81% in Q4 2021, holding shares worth $557.4 million, representing 0.28% of his fund’s total 13F portfolio.
In 2021, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB)’s revenue for the year stood at approximately $118 billion, up from $86 billion in the earlier year. The net income in 2021 came in at $39.3 billion, compared to $29.1 billion in 2020. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) reported on April 13 that it will charge metaverse creators approximately 47.5% on sales of digital assets and 3D experiences created on the company’s VR platform, Horizon Worlds.
On April 14, Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney added Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) to the firm’s “TAP Underperform” list ahead of earnings from the large-cap Internet group. The analyst believes that Wall Street’s revenue estimates for the first half of 2022 are “overly aggressive.” He cited foreign exchange headwinds, possible brand ad spend pullback in Europe, and hard comps in the second quarter. However, he thinks that the second half of 2022 is attractive and he would buy Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) shares for the long run. The analyst reiterated an Outperform rating and a $350 price target on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB).
Hedge funds pulled back on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) in the fourth quarter of 2021. According to Insider Monkey’s Q4 data, 224 hedge funds were long Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), down from 248 funds in the preceding quarter. Fisher Asset Management held a prominent stake in the company, with 9.5 million shares worth $3.2 billion.
Like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is a notable stock in Izzy Englander’s Q4 portfolio.
Here is what Boyar Value Group has to say about Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:
“Corporate executives can have many different reasons for selling shares (anticipation of tax law changes, philanthropy, diversification, and much more), but the sheer number of billionaire founders who sold shares in 2021 should raise eyebrows and might well be signaling a market top. Bloomberg’s Ben Steverman and Scott Carpenter report not only that Mark Zuckerberg of Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly known as Facebook) sold shares in his company almost every day last year but also that the founders of Google sold ~$3.5 billion worth of stock (the first time either Sergey Brin or Larry Page has sold shares since 2017).”
6. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)
Millennium Management’s Stake Value: $662,163,000
Percentage of Millennium Management’s 13F Portfolio: 0.33%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 70
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a Texas-based multinational conglomerate that operates in the telecommunications and technology industries, specializing in satellite television, fixed-line telephones, mobile services, and internet services. Izzy Englander owned approximately 27 million AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) shares in Q4 2021, worth more than $662 million.
In 2021, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s full-year revenue slid to $168.8 billion from $171.7 billion in 2020. The net income strongly rebounded in 2021, coming in at over $20 billion, compared to a net loss of $5.1 billion in the preceding year. The company’s cash and cash equivalents in 2021 increased to $21.2 billion from $9.7 billion in 2020.
On March 25, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) declared a $0.2775 per share quarterly dividend. The dividend is payable on May 2, to shareholders of the company as of April 14. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is determined to remain a significant top yielding Fortune 500 company.
Raymond James analyst Frank Louthan on April 12 reiterated an Outperform rating on AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) but lowered the firm’s price target on the stock to $26 from $32 ahead of the Q1 results. While the analyst still sees a few challenges as smaller investors get in-line with the new dividend policy and the spinning out of shares in their accounts, he expects institutional interest to rise as the operations are less complex. With the Discovery deal eliminated, the analyst believes AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) will be successful with its subscriber count growth in the future, due to a simplified marketing program.
According to Insider Monkey’s fourth quarter database, 60 hedge funds were long AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), compared to 66 funds in the earlier quarter. The total stakes owned in Q4 amounted to roughly $5 billion. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group is the leading position holder in AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), with 43.7 million shares worth over $1 billion.
Here is what Weitz Investment Management Hickory Fund has to say about AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:
“After several quarters of pandemic-induced outsized growth, new broadband connection growth has slowed for U.S. cable operators. This slower growth has coincided with a renewed push by competitors like Verizon and AT&T to offer high-speed data (either via wireless connections or by building new fiber-optic networks).”
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Disclosure: None. 10 Favorite Stocks of Billionaire Izzy Englander is originally published on Insider Monkey.
