Billionaire Ken Fisher’s Monster Q4 Moves

Being a long-term investors, billionaire Ken Fisher rarely makes drastic changes in his portfolio. However, there are always a few stocks in a portfolio which require special attention, especially when the size of the portfolio is humongous. According to the latest 13F filing submitted by Mr. Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management, its U.S. equity portfolio at the end of December was worth $56.2 billion and consisted of hundreds of stocks across sectors.

The filing also revealed that during the fourth quarter, the fund’s portfolio had a quarterly turnover of 14.67% and that 34.06% of its value was amassed by stocks from the financial sector. In this post, we are going to take a look at the five major moves made by Fisher Asset Management during the last quarter of 2016 and will discuss how those stocks have been performing lately.

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Suggested read: 140 Biggest and Most Famous Activist Hedge Funds

#5 Grupo Televisa SAB (ADR) (NYSE:TV)

– Shares Held By Fisher Asset Management (as of December 31): 17,482

– Value of The Holding (as of December 31): $13.49 Million

Let’s begin with Grupo Televisa SAB (ADR) (NYSE:TV), in which Fisher Asset Management increased its holding by 63% during the October-December period. Shares of the Latin American television broadcaster have been on a downtrend since the second half of 2016, losing over 40% of their value since then. On January 17, the company announced that it will be merging its content development and programming department with Univision. A few days after that, Grupo Televisa SAB (ADR) (NYSE:TV) suffered a setback when a Mexican tribunal stroke down the ruling by Federal Telecommunications Institute that said the company didn’t have market power in the Pay TV segment in Mexico.

#4 IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA)

– Shares Held By Fisher Asset Management (as of December 31): 393,562

– Value of The Holding (as of December 31): $31.70 Million

Fisher Asset Management lowered its stake in IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA) by 27% during the fourth quarter. IDACORP Inc (NYSE:IDA) is the holding company of electric utility Idaho Power Company. Although IDACORP’s stock has been range bound this year, it has seen a consistent uptrend in the last five years, rising by almost 90% during that time. The company currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.55, which based on the last trading price of its stock translates into an annual dividend yield of 2.78%. In October last year, analysts at Williams Capital initiated coverage on IDACORP’s stock with a ‘Hold’ rating and $75 price target, which suggests a potential downside of 5% from the stock’s current trading price.

#3 Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)

– Shares Held By Fisher Asset Management (as of December 31): 811,068

– Value of The Holding (as of December 31): $68.49 Million

Moving on, Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE) jumped several spots in Fisher Asset Management’s equity portfolio during the fourth quarter owing to the fund increasing its stake in the company by 54%. Helen of Troy Limited (NASDAQ:HELE)’s stock registered bull run in the period between 2013 and 2015. Though it went through a correction during the second-half of 2016, it has recouped most of the losses now and is currently trading up by 13.26% year-to-date. For its most recent quarter, the company managed to beat analysts’ EPS estimate of $1.90 by $0.47, but missed revenue estimate of $447.13 million by $2.75 million.

#2 DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE:DST)

– Shares Held By Fisher Asset Management (as of December 31): 696,461

– Value of The Holding (as of December 31): $74.62 Million

Fisher Asset Management became increasingly bullish on DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE:DST) during the fourth quarter by doubling its stake in the company. Shares of the Missouri-based IT company fell heavily in October last year after it reported weaker than expected third quarter numbers. However, they have recouped those losses now and are trading up 8.71% for the current year. DST Systems, Inc. (NYSE:DST)’s stock is currently trading at a forward P/E multiple of 16.84, which analysts consider reasonable for a mid-sized IT firm. The company recently hiked it dividend to $0.35 per share from $0.33 per share, which translates into an annual dividend yield of 1.20%.

#1 NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI)

– Shares Held By Fisher Asset Management (as of December 31): 1.23 Million

– Value of The Holding (as of December 31): $120.51 Million

In what can perhaps be best described as a profit booking move, Fisher Asset Management lowered its holding in NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) by 28% during the fourth quarter. Shares of NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) spiked at the end of September 2016 after rumors hit the Street that QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) is in talks with the company to acquire it for more than $30 billion. Those rumors turned out to be true on October 27, when  QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) announced that it had agreed to buy NXP Semiconductors for $110 per share or $47 billion including debt. Currently, NXP’s stock is trading at a significant discount to the announced purchase price, suggesting that market participants might be wary of the deal going through. On February 7, analysts at Morgan Stanley reiterated their ‘Equal Weight’ rating and $110 price target on the stock.

Disclosure: None