Billionaire Andreas Halvorsen’s Largest New Positions Include Intercontinental Exchange, Microsoft Corporation & More

Andreas Halvorsen co-founded Viking Global together his Tiger Management colleagues David Ott and Brian Olson back in 1999. Viking follows a bottom-up stock picking approach when it comes to investing. The fund takes long, as well as, short positions in equites.

The equity portfolio of Viking Global had a value of $23.54 billion at the end of the second quarter, up from $22.71 billion reported at the end of the previous quarter. The fund’s largest exposure was to the technology sector, which amassed 30% of the value. Viking Global also had 21% invested in healthcare stocks and 18% in the consumer discretionary sector. Moreover, during the second quarter, Viking initiated new positions in 13 companies and, in this article, we will focus on Viking Global’s top new picks.

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In Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE), Viking Global acquired 1.13 million shares during the second quarter, whose value stood at $290.13 million at the end of June. Overall, 49 funds from our database were long Intercontinental Exchange, holding $2.22 billion worth of shares, and amassing 7.30% of outstanding stock, compared to 48 funds holding $2.20 billion worth of shares a quarter earlier. Last month, Intercontinental Exchange reported second-quarter earnings of $3.43 per share, beating consensus estimate by $3.38 per share, while its revenue of $1.13 billion, topped the expectations by $10 million.

Viking Global bought 5.63 million shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the second quarter, which were valued at $288.28 million at the end of June. Microsoft was one of the most popular stocks among the funds we track, with 131 funds holding $18.81 billion worth of shares at the end of June, down from  144 funds holding $20.83 billion worth shares at the end of the first quarter. Earlier this week, Microsoft announced a dividend of $0.39 per share, up by around 8% from the previous one, which gives its stock a forward yield of 2.75%. Microsoft is scheduled to release its fiscal first-quarter results on October 20 and it is expected to report earnings of  $0.68 per share for its fiscal first quarter on revenue of $21.71 billion.

Read about Viking Global’s three other new picks on the next page.

Rice Energy Inc (NYSE:RICE) represented Viking Global’s third-largest acquisition during the second quarter, with the fund purchasing 12.61 million shares worth $278 million at the end of the quarter. Overall, 38 funds we track held $789.16 million worth of Rice Energy shares at the end of the second quarter, compared to 35 investors with stakes valued at $432.66 million a quarter earlier. Rice Energy reported its second-quarter results last month, posting a loss of $0.02 per share, beating the estimates by $0.04 per share. The company’s net production for the quarter totaled 758 MMcfe/d, which represents a 43% increase over the same period last year.

Viking Global bought 3.33 million shares of American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) during the second quarter, which were valued at $176.38 million at the end of June. American International Group saw 85 funds from our database long its shares at the end of June quarter, down from 94 funds a quarter earlier, while the value of their positions declined to $7.28 billion from $8.39 billion. American International Group is scheduled to report its third-quarter results on October 31 and analysts  expect earnings of $1.18 per share on revenue of $13.03 billion.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (NYSE:HIG) was Viking Global’s fifth largest new position, which contained 3.6 million shares worth $159.80 million at the end of June. Hartford Financial Services had 34 funds from our database with stakes worth $1.05 billion in aggregate at the end of June, compared to 39 funds holding $900.20 million worth of shares three months earlier. Hartford Financial is scheduled to release its third-quarter results on October 24. Analysts forecast earnings of $0.94 per share, while the consensus estimate for revenue amounts to $4.67 billion.

Disclosure: none