Apple Inc. (AAPL), Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (VRX) Among Steadfast Capital’s Top New Picks

Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) was the second-largest addition to Steadfast’s public equity portfolio in the first quarter, with the fund holding over 918,000 shares valued at $182.5 million as of March 31. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE: VRX) has made a reputation for itself on the Street as a formidable deal-maker in the pharmaceutical space. At the Sohn Investment Conference in May this year, renowned activist investor Bill Ackman mentioned that he thinks Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) has the potential to become the next Berkshire Hathaway Inc.(NYSE:BRK.A). In the past few weeks there have been reports that the company has approached animal health company Zoetis Inc (NYSE:ZTS) for a merger. Most analysts are bullish on the stock, with an average recommendation of ‘Buy’. Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square and Jeffrey Ubben’s ValueAct Capital held nearly identical stakes of 19.4 million shares in Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) at the end of the first quarter, with Ackman’s being a new position.

Steadfast initiated a stake in Chinese e-commerce behemoth JD.Com Inc(ADR)(NASDAQ: JD) in the first quarter as well, by purchasing 4.37 million shares of the company, which were valued at $128.46 million as of March 31. The company recently announced a partnership with ZestFinance through which it plans to use the vast amount of consumer data on its platform to develop a credit scoring feature. JD.Com Inc(ADR)(NASDAQ: JD) had its U.S. IPO in May, 2014 and since then the company’s stock has appreciated by almost 65%. Of the 25 analysts who cover the stock, 13 have a ‘Buy’ rating on it while 9 have a ‘Hold’ rating. The Street expects the company to declare a negative EPS of $0.06 for the current quarter. Lei Zhang‘s Hillhouse Capital holds the largest stake in JD.com, consisting of over 143.40 million Sponsored ADRs, each being equivalent to two common shares.

Disclosure: None