3D Systems Corporation (DDD), SAIC, Inc. (SAI): Here’s What This Billion-Dollar Market Wizard Has Been Buying

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 Tudor Investment, founded in 1980 by Paul Tudor Jones, and featuring the flagship Tudor BVI fund. Jones, featured in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders, was one of the few to foresee the 1987 market crash (and he made many millions on it, as well). He’s known for focusing on short-term trading, equity, venture capital, debt, currency, and commodity markets. More recently, he’s known for confounding comments he made, suggesting that women with children shouldn’t be trading stocks.

The company’s reportable stock portfolio totaled $1.3 billion in value as of June 30, 2013.

Interesting developments
So, what does Tudor Investment’s latest quarterly 13F filing tell us? Here are a few interesting details:

The biggest new holdings are the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF, and the Industrials Sector SPDR ETF. Other new holdings of interest include 3-D printing specialist 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) and SAIC, Inc. (NYSE:SAI). 3-D printing is still in its infancy, with much promise. 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE:DDD) has been upping its share count, using that money to invest in growth. Despite significant short interest, it recently received an upgrade from Citigroup analyst Kenneth Wong, and it has been innovating and releasing new products. Some see the stock as overvalued now, but others just see lots of room to grow.

Security and intelligence services specialist Science Applications International Corporation, known also as SAIC, Inc. (NYSE:SAI), does a lot of business with the military, so it has been vulnerable to spending cutbacks and the sequester. Still, it has been collecting some big contracts, and there are additional billions up for grabs. SAIC is planning to split itself in two this month, separating much of its government work from its other work. (The spun-off entity will be called Leidos Holdings and, with its dividend yield of 3.3%, and a recent and forward P/E near 11, some see it as attractive.

Among holdings in which Tudor Investment increased its stake were U.S. Silica Holdings, and TRW Automotive Holdings. Tudor also reduced its stake in lots of companies, including Ellie Mae Inc (NYSE:ELLI) and Sirius XM Radio. Ellie Mae Inc (NYSE:ELLI), providing business automation software for the mortgage industry, is putting itself up for sale, perhaps because it sees its future performance to not be as powerful as its (short) past. Revenue has indeed been surging, but the company is very vulnerable to swings in the housing market.