As we approach the end of the current round of 13F filings, we see investors disclosing their equity portfolios held as of the end of 2014. One of the investors that has recently filed its 13F form is Drew Cupps‘ Cupps Capital Management. The fund with an equity portfolio valued at $1.12 billion reported a total of 219 positions. Cupps’ portfolio is very diversified with all positions amassing less than 4% of the total value. Mr. Cupps’ has been betting heavily on the technology sector, which at the end of 2014 represented almost 40% of the total equity portfolio value. Among other stocks, the investor has been investing in some of the most popular tech stocks such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA).
Drew Cupps is focusing on value investing and has been involved in research and identifying attractive investments since 1992, when he was working as an analyst at Richard Driehaus’ Driehaus Capital Management. Cupps follows a philosophy that is based on valuation and fundamental and technical variables as the primary drivers of stock performance. In this way, it is easy to see why Mr. Cupps has been bullish on the technology sector, which has had strong returns over the last several years. Over the last year, tech stocks returned on average around 19%, beating the S&P 500, which gained some 14%.
While, Cupps Capital invests in a majority of tech companies, among its investments are also seven out of the top 10 tech stocks that hedge funds that we track are betting on. The fund disclosed ownership of 117,119 shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as of the end of December, while the $12.93 million position amasses 1.16% of the equity’s portfolio total value. During the third quarter, the fund trimmed its stake by selling around 1,800 shares, while the stock appreciated by 10% during the October-December period. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has recently surprised the market as it announced the highest earnings ever reported by a public company with its profit for the fourth quarter of 2014 amounting to $18 billion. Moreover, Apple also enjoys the backing of some of the greatest investors on Wall Street, such as Carl Icahn, David Shaw, David Einhorn, among others. Overall, at the end of the third quarter of 2014, 153 funds among those that we track held long positions in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Next on the list is Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), in which Cupps disclosed a $9.78 million position that contains some 123,900 shares, down by 9% on the quarter. The fund has been holding shares of Facebook since the third quarter of 2013. During 2014, Cupps has been mostly reducing its position and picking profits as the stock of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) gained around 40%. During the third quarter, the number of funds holding shares of Facebook went to 153 from 155, but the aggregate value of the positions held by these funds increased by $2.28 billion to $8.92 billion. Among the largest shareholders of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) are Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital and Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management.
On the other hand, while Cupps trimmed its exposure to Apple and Facebook during the fourth quarter, it has raised its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) by around 30,000 shares to 46,250 shares valued at $4.81 million. The stock of Alibaba appreciated by some 17% during the fourth quarter and gained around 10% overall since its IPO in September. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) quickly gained the support of some big investors right after its IPO with Dan Loeb, George Soros, and Julian Robertson reporting significant positions in the company. Overall, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) has been the fourth most popular tech stock among the funds that we track with 109 investors reporting long positions with an aggregate value of $7.68 billion.
Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are next on the list with Cupps reporting ownership of 6,700 shares and 2,600 shares respectively. The fund disclosed an $1.53 million stake in Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) and during the fourth quarter it sold around 1,800 shares. In Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) the fund’s position has been cut by around 10,800 shares. In addition, Cupps sold all shares of Google’s Class C stock, previously reporting ownership of 681 shares. After Apple, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has been the second-most popular pick among hedge funds tracked by us, which reported ownership of $7.45 billion worth of the company’s stock. In Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU), funds that we track disclosed holdings with a slightly larger aggregate value of $7.64 billion.
The last two stocks among the most popular tech companies, in which Cupps reported long positions are Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO). The fund disclosed holding 19,850 shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), valued at $694,000; the stake was raised by 68% during the fourth quarter. One of the largest shareholders of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group, which held 51.66 million shares at the end of September. In Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Cupps’ stake contains 5,452 shares, up by 1,110 shares on the quarter and valued at $275,000. Recently, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) has announced its decision to spin-off its equity position in Alibaba valued at around $40 billion. The move is a major win for Jeff Smith‘s Starboard Value, which has been pressuring CEO Marissa Mayer to spin-off Alibaba stake for several months since disclosing a 7.72 million shares stake in the company.
Disclosure: none
