Winton Capital Management was founded as Winton Capital in 1997 by billionaire David Harding. The fund’s investment strategy is similar to that of Renaissance Technologies, headed by Jim Simons, using detailed quantitative analysis to make investment decisions. Winton Capital Management recently filed its 13F for the period of June 30, showing that it had a public equity portfolio value of $10.89 billion, representing a decrease of $1.67 billion sequentially. The fund boasts a diversified portfolio, something that’s also demonstrated by its top picks during the second quarter. In this article, we look at the top four of those picks.
We don’t just track the latest moves of hedge funds. We are, in fact, more interested in their 13F filings, which we use to determine the top 15 small-cap stocks held by the funds we track. We gather and share this information based on 16 years of research which showed that these 15 most popular small-cap picks have a great potential to outperform the market, beating the S&P 500 Total Return Index by nearly one percentage point per month in backtests, and easily beating the most popular large-cap picks of funds, which nonetheless get the majority of their collective capital. Why pay fees to invest in both the best and worst ideas of a particular hedge fund when you can simply mimic only the very best ideas of the best fund managers on your own? Since the beginning of forward testing in August 2012, the Insider Monkey small-cap strategy has outperformed the market every year, returning 118%, nearly two-times greater returns than the S&P 500 during the same period (see more details).
Follow David Harding's Winton Capital Management
4. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
First, let’s consider Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), in which Winton Capital Management held 948,777 shares with a market value of $119.00 million. The Cupertino, California-based iPhone maker has long dealt with complaints from customers who say that their iPhone 6 Plus cameras take blurry photos. The technology giant recently offered to replace these cameras for free. There have also been growing concerns that the economic slowdown in China and the devaluation of the yuan might affect the iPhone’s performance in the Asian country, which is its second-biggest market. This is also feared to have the potential to give leverage to iPhone’s competitors in China, which is Apple Inc’s fastest growing market. However, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has dispelled such concerns, saying that the iPhone’s sales performance in the country has continued to grow even during the period of the economic downturn. At the end of the second quarter, Billionaire Carl Icahn‘s Icahn Capital LP remained the biggest shareholder of the company out of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey. The fund held 52.76 million shares valued at $6.62 billion. Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management came a distant second with 11.01 million shares valued at $1.38 billion.
3. Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW)
Now, let’s turn to Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW), a healthcare stock in which Winton Capital Management held a long position of 840,361 shares valued at $119.69 million after reducing its stake in the stock by 16% during the second quarter. The medical equipment company delivered EPS growth of 11.8% last year and is projected to deliver 24.5% growth this year. In terms of stock price performance, Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW) is up by 9.04% year-to-date. However, since the beginning of the second quarter, the stock has lost 2.51% of its share price. AQR Capital Management, headed by Cliff Asness, is the biggest shareholder out of the more than 700 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey. The fund held 2.40 million shares with a market value of $342.19 million on June 30, having upped its stake by 25% during the second quarter.
2. Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV)
Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV), a Saint Paul, Minnesota-based insurance company, was also among Winton Capital Management’s top picks going into the third quarter. The fund raised its position in the stock by 69% to own 1.30 million shares with a market value of $125.77 million at the end of the second quarter. This pushed it to the second position among the biggest shareholders out of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey. Vetr upgraded Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) to a “Strong Buy” rating from a “Buy” rating, in a research report issued on Monday. The firm has given the stock a price target of $112.67, representing an upside of 12.82% to the current share price. This year has, however, seen the stock lose 5.52% of its share price, having lost 10.61% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management, headed by Cliff Asness, was long in the stock with 2.52 million shares with a market value of $243.40 million, having raised its stake in the company by 30% during the second quarter. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies also held a notable position in the stock of 687,672 shares valued at $66.47 million. The fund raised its position in the stock by 1,980% during the second quarter to lift it to number three among the biggest shareholders of the stock from within our database.
1. Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM)
Lastly, we come to Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM), which emerged as Winton Capital Management’s top pick as of June 30. The fund had raised its stake in the company by 28% during the second quarter to close the period with 3.04 million shares valued at $146.60 million. The Decatur, Illinois-based food processing and commodities trading company recently announced a dividend payment of $0.28 per share payable on September 9, with the company trading ex-dividend from August 17. Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) recently posted earnings per share of $0.60 for the quarterly period ended June 30, down from EPS of $0.79 during the same quarter last year. The company attributed its less-than-impressive second quarter performance on lower ethanol-production margins and dwindling demand for North American crops overseas. Year-to-date, the stock is down by 15.38%. AQR Capital Management was again a major shareholder among the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, having raised its position by 10% to 7.77 million shares with a market value of $374.52 million. Winton Capital Management came in second, followed at a distance by another quant fund, D E Shaw, which was founded by billionaire D. E. Shaw.
Disclosure: None
