Beech Hill Partners, led by Paul Cantor, Joseph Weiss, and Will Wurm, is a traditional boutique fund that was established as a privately owned investment advisory arm of Beech Hill Securities, Inc.. As the fund stated in its letter to clients for the fourth quarter of 2013, its portfolios have “finished up just shy of 20%, depending on investor’s individual investment strategy and asset allocation, with the equity portion returning approximately 24% and fixed income rising 6%.” In its latest 13F, Beech Hill Partners revealed a diversified equity portfolio with a total value of $213.02 million at the end of March, up from $198.09 in the previous quarter.
In this article we will take a look at the top holdings from Beech Hill’s 13F portfolio in terms of value. On the first spot is Schlumberger Limited. (NYSE:SLB), in which the fund revealed ownership of some 83,100 shares, valued at $8.1 million. The stock of Schlumberger added around 12% year to date, and trails a P/E of around 19.00, slightly below the industry average of 25.20. Schlumberger Limited. (NYSE:SLB) is engaged in Oil and Gas industry related services. Of late, the company has finished acquiring the rest of the outstanding shares of SES Holdings Limited and purchased Rock Deformation Research, a company engaged in the development of geological software.
In Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Beech Hill owns a $7.92 million stake, which contains 17,500 shares, the position being slightly increased during the first quarter, by around 1,100 shares. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been one of the most popular stocks among hedge funds for quite some time, and it is clear why, since the company is bringing more and more value to its shareholders. A couple of days ago, the company’s Board of Directors raised the capital return program and plans to utilise more than $130 billion of cash by the end of 2015. The company has also raised its dividend by about 8%, and declared a dividend of $3.29 per common share, which positions Apple as one of the companies with highest dividends. One of the prominent stakeholders of Apple is Carl Icahn, which has recently been pursuing the company to increase its buyback program in order to return more capital to investors.
Next on the list is General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), with the Beech Hill’s stake amounting to 264,900 shares, with a value of $6.86 million. Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management and David Shaw‘s D E Shaw hold significant stakes in the company, which contained some 29.92 million and 14.45 million respectively at the end of last year. The stock of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) gained around 20% over the past 52-weeks and trades at a forward P/E of almost 15, with the average recommendation ‘Overweight.’
In The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX), the fund revealed a stake worth $6.79 million, which amasses almost 204,300 shares, down by 12% on the quarter. The manager of private capital has reported a net income of $3.07 per share for 2013, much higher from $1.77 posted a year earlier, and above the consensus estimates. For the current year, The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) is expected to deliver even higher profits, the consensus estimate standing at around $3.20 per share. Select Equity Group, led by Robert Joseph Caruso, held 4.17 million shares at the end of 2013.
And the last, but not the least is the $6.15 million stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), which contains 108,300 shares. The stock of the pharmaceutical company has risen by 14% since the beginning of the year, and trails a P/E of around 40.00, which is higher than the average among major drug manufacturers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently approved Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s RAGWITEK tablet for treatment of short ragweed pollen-induced allergic rhinitis, which is the first and only FDA approved tablet for sublingual allergen immunotherapy, according to a statement.
Disclosure: none
Recommended Reading:
John H Lewis, Osmium Partners Trim Stake In Vitacost.com, Inc. (VITC)
George Soros Further Reduces Stake In Exar Corporation (EXAR)
Five Largest Holdings from WCG Management’s Equity Portfolio
