Al Gore’s Environmentally-Conscious Hedge Fund Was Buying These Stocks in Q3

Generation Investment Management is a London-based hedge fund founded by former US Vice President and politician Albert Arnold “Al” Gore and David Blood. Al Gore is also famous for his efforts for environment, climate change and green energy. He recently reached out to Donald Trump to work with him on the climate change problem. In this article we will talk about Generation Investment Management’s top 5 picks in the third quarter, which include Deere & Company (NYSE:DE), Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA), Becton Dickinson and Co (NYSE:BDX) and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO).

We follow over 700 hedge funds and other institutional investors and by analyzing their quarterly 13F filings, we identify stocks that they are collectively bullish on and develop investment strategies based on this data. One strategy that outperformed the market over the last year involves selecting the 100 best-performing funds and identifying the 30 mid-cap stocks that they are collectively the most bullish on. Over the past year, this strategy generated returns of 18%, topping the 8% gain registered by S&P 500 ETFs.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

– Shares Owned by Generation Investment Management (as of September 30): 6.84 million

– Value of Generation Investment Management’s Holding (as of September 30): $583.64 million

Generation Investment increased its hold in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) by 12% in the third quarter, amassing a total of 6.84 million shares of the Illinois-based manufacturing company. The total worth of this stake was over $583.64 million. Baird recently downgraded Deere & Co. (NYSE:DE) to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’. The company is facing a decline in sales amid plummeting crop prices. Farmers are now preferring to rent machinery instead of making full purchases, resulting in softer demand. Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management reported ownership of 6.32 million shares of Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) at the end of the third quarter.

Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

– Shares Owned by Generation Investment Management (as of September 30): 626,804

– Value of Generation Investment Management’s Holding (as of September 30): $487.21 million

Generation Investment bought 40,949 shares of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the third quarter, giving it a stake of $487.21 million at the end of Q3. Several investment firms upgraded their ratings for Google after the company posted a strong third quarter, with $9.06 EPS on at $22.25 billion revenue, versus the analyst estimate of $8.64 EPS and $22.05 billion revenue. Natixis Global Asset Management’s Harris Associates has 2.36 million shares of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), as of the end of the third quarter. Although investors are uncertain about the company’s regulatory problems in Europe, many bulls like Alphabet’s wide moat and its committment to developing the latest cutting edge technologies.

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Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA)

– Shares Owned by Generation Investment Management (as of September 30): 4.1 million

– Value of Generation Investment Management’s Holding (as of September 30): $414.21 million

Al Gore’s fund loaded up on Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) in the third quarter, increasing its stake in the company by a whopping 32%. The fund now has over $414.21 million stake in the company, per 13F data. Recently, the company reported third quarter EPS of $1.08, above the consensus of $0.98, while revenue of $2.88 billion also surpassed forecasts of $2.75 billion. A total of 84 hedge funds from our data were long Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) at the end of the third quarter.

Becton Dickinson and Co (NYSE:BDX)

– Shares Owned by Generation Investment Management (as of September 30): 1.21 million

– Value of Generation Investment Management’s Holding (as of September 30): $217.96 million

Generation Investment boosted its stake in the New Jersey-based medical technology company Becton Dickinson and Co (NYSE:BDX) by 81% in the third quarter, owning a total of 1.21 million shares of the company, whose value stood at over $217.96 million. Becton topped fiscal fourth quarter estimates by posting EPS of $2.12 on $3.23 billion revenue, versus the consensus of $2.09 EPS on $3.22 billion revenue. For full year 2017, the company expects EPS in between $9.45 – $9.55, compared to the estimates of $9.45. At the end of the third quarter, John Brennan’s Sirios Capital Management owned 307,379 shares of Becton Dickinson and Co (NYSE:BDX).

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

– Shares Owned by Generation Investment Management (as of September 30): 813,947

– Value of Generation Investment Management’s Holding (as of September 30): $129.46 million

Generation Investment added Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) as a new position in its portfolio, buying a $129.46 million stake in the company. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) shares have gained over 0.4% in value year-to-date. Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) earned $2.03 a share on $4.49 billion revenue in the third quarter, above the forecasts of $1.97 EPS and $4.39 billion revenue. A total of 46 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish on Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) at the end of the third quarter.

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