In this piece, we will take a look at the top 12 stocks that billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller bought and sold during the third quarter of 2023. If you want to skip our overview of Stanley Druckenmiller’s 2023 stock portfolio, then take a look at the 5 Stocks Billionaire Stan Druckenmiller Just Bought and Sold.
The third quarter of the 2023 hedge fund filing season is one of the more important ones that we’ve come across. This is because the third quarter was the first time in months that it appeared that the stock market might be entering a new era. Before developments in November, investors were uncertain about the trajectory that the Federal Reserve might take with its future interest rate decisions. While inflation has dropped in America for most of the year, a robust job market and the recent conflict in the Middle East have nevertheless created uncertainty that the Fed might be back with its interest rate gavel faster than investors can say ‘recession.’
However, now not only is inflation undershooting consensus estimates but prices higher up in the supply chain are also falling. At the same time, crude oil is also becoming cheaper, and while all these signals also herald the start of a recession, they make it abundantly clear that if future data releases follow this trend, then the Fed will have few reasons to continue raising interest rates
This environment makes the current hedge fund filing season even more important. This is because it’s when the funds might be starting to reposition their investment portfolios to account for the changing financial conditions. One hedge fund boss who has seen his fair share of fame in the financial industry is Stanely Druckenmiller. Mr. Druckenmiller ran his own fund for years before retiring and pooling his personal money into the Duquesne Family Office. Running a family office saves him from the stress that comes with managing outsider money, and judging by the family office’s latest SEC filings, it appears that Mr. Druckenmiller is doing quite well for himself.
His firm’s Q3 2023 SEC filings reveal that the investment portfolio was worth $2.7 billion. This marked a small $100 million drop over the second quarter and a sizeable $1 billion increase over the third quarter of 2022. Mr. Druckenmiller had quite a busy third quarter as he added dozens of new companies to his portfolio and completely existed even dozens more. For instance, during the third quarter of 2023, the Duquesne Family Office bought shares of Veeva Systems Inc. (NYSE:VEEV), Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR), Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG), Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC), and Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE:SPHR). These firms belong to a wide variety of sectors, indicating an agnostic approach that appears to be driven by fundamentals as opposed to broader economic trends.
As to what’s on Mr. Druckenmiller’s mind these days, here’s what he had to say during a recent fireside chat along with billionaire Paul Tudor Jones. According to the billionaire:
I did an interview, about a year ago, and said for the first time I was more worried about growth in this country than inflation. That has a dangling participle to it because that was sort of an intermediate forecast, wrong on growth, right on finflation by the way, very wrong on growth. But going forward, I would say this. I grew up in the 70s, that’s when I started in the business. And you had a few periods where inflation came down from like seven to three or seven to four, and thy thought they had it bet and Arthur Burns put his foot on the gas and as everybody knows now it ended up you 12 or 13 before Volcker came in and smashed it.
That’s a big debate now for money managers. I don’t have to answer that question yet, but since you asked it, I guess I do because we’re in front of a bunch of smart people. I would say this: Under a Trump administration, what I would be terrified of because he’s a big spender, he doesn’t believe in the Federal Reserve, we go back to the Arthur Burns model times two. So, you have fiscal recklessness, un abandon, just like he’s run his business. And on top of that, he puts a puppet into the Federal Reserve. Under that model, you have to be open minded to eight to ten percent inflation, a takeoff like you did in the 70s after probably an intermediate lull here after a year or two. You didn’t give me a third option, which I would say is a non-Trump Republican.
There are candidates out there where I could see the opposite. You get the debt blowup and something really horrible happens, and you potentially get deflation. But, under that case I guess my central case would be somewhere in the three or four area. Again, don’t trade on any on this, we’re just talking about the future and we’ll change our mind five times between now and then.
So, with Mr. Druckenmiller being as prescient as ever, it’s absolutely essential to know which stocks he’s buying and which stocks he’s selling. We did just that today, and some notable stocks are Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA).
Our Methodology
To compile our list of the stocks that Stanley Druckenmiller is buying and selling, we first ranked his newest positions and those in which he increased stakes by their dollar value. Then, the procedure was repeated for the stocks he reduced his holdings in or disposed of them completely – with the latter ranked by their second quarter value. Out of these, the top stocks were chosen as those that Mr. Druckenmiller was buying and selling.
Stocks Billionaire Stan Druckenmiller Just Bought and Sold
12. IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)
Duquesne’s Q2 2023 Investment: $44.6 million
Bought Or Sold: Sold
Percentage Increase or (-)Decrease: -100%
IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) is a healthcare technology company that sells software and analytics solutions. Mr. Druckenmiller’s family office held a $44.6 million stake in the firm in Q2 and sold all of it during Q3. Analysts have rated the shares Strong Buy on average with an average share price target of $225.
In the previous quarter, 64 out of the 910 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database were IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)’s investors. In the third quarter, the firm’s largest shareholder was Natixis Global Asset Management’s Harris Associates as it owned a $1.5 billion stake.
IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) joins Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY), and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) in our list of the stocks that Stanley Druckenmiller just bought and sold.
11. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM)
Duquesne’s Q2 2023 Investment: $49 million
Bought Or Sold: Sold
Percentage Increase or (-)Decrease: -100%
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) is the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer. Mr. Druckenmiller’s decision to exit the stock is interesting, as perhaps he expects the current downturn in the chip sector to last for longer and drag Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM)’s shares lower. Another key driving factor behind his decision could be the geopolitical risk associated with the company.
As of Q2 2023 end, 121 out of the 910 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey had invested in the firm. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM)’s biggest hedge fund investor in the following quarter was Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management due to its $2.6 billion investment.
10. Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)
Duquesne’s Q2 2023 Investment: $65.9 million
Bought Or Sold: Bought
Percentage Increase or (-)Decrease: New Addition
Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) is a sizeable utility company with operations across 20 American states. Its presence in Mr. Druckenmiller’s latest stock portfolio hints at a need for stability through a defensive play. Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s shares are rated Strong Buy on average with an average share price target of $39.44.
By the end of this year’s second quarter, 48 out of the 910 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s database had bought Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST)’s shares. Howard Marks’ Oaktree Capital Management owned the biggest stake in Q3 as it held 9 million shares that are worth $298 million.
9. Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)
Duquesne’s Q3 2023 Investment: $70.1 million
Bought Or Sold: Bought
Percentage Increase or (-)Decrease: 53%
Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT) is an industrial products company that provides products to the transportation, financial, media, and other industries. It’s another highly rated stock since the average analyst rating is Strong Buy on average with an average share price target of $46.
As of June 2023, 54 out of the 910 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey had invested in the firm. Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT)’s largest hedge fund investor in the September quarter was Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management as it owned $430 million worth of shares.
8. News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS)
Duquesne’s Q3 2023 Investment: $95.7 million
Bought Or Sold: Bought
Percentage Increase or (-)Decrease: 6%
News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS) is one of the biggest news companies in America and it distributes content through newspapers, video, and other mediums. The firm posted a strong set of results for its latest fiscal quarter as it beat analyst revenue and earnings per share estimates by posting $2.5 billion and $0.16 in the segments, respectively.
For their June quarter of 2023 shareholdings, 14 out of the 910 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had held a stake in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS). In the September quarter, Donald Yacktman’s Yacktman Asset Management was the biggest shareholder through its $339 million stake.
7. T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS)
Duquesne’s Q3 2023 Investment: $105.9 million
Bought Or Sold: Sold
Percentage Increase or (-)Decrease: -36%
T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) is a telecommunications carrier. Like several other stocks that Mr. Druckenmiller sold during Q3, T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS)’s shares are also rated Strong Buy on average and the average share price target is $178.
86 out of the 910 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were the firm’s investors in Q2 2023. In Q3, T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS)’s largest hedge fund investor was Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway due to its $734 million investment.
6. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Duquesne’s Q3 2023 Investment: $109 million
Bought Or Sold: Bought
Percentage Increase or (-)Decrease: New Addition
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) appears to be the big Stanley Druckenmiller stock pick during Q3. It is the largest newest addition to his portfolio, with the famed investor buying 838,375 shares for $109 million during the period.
In the previous quarter, 152 out of the 910 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey had bought Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s shares. Right now, the largest hedge fund shareholder is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management as it owns 43.7 million shares that are worth $5.7 billion as of Q3 2023.
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) are some stocks that saw action in Stanley Druckenmiller’s latest investment portfolio.
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Disclosure: None. 12 Stocks Billionaire Stan Druckenmiller Just Bought and Sold is originally published on Insider Monkey.