Billionaire Ken Griffin Piles Up Shares of Visa Inc. (V), Sherwin-Williams Co (SHW), Charter Communications, Inc. (CHTR) And More

Citadel Advisors is a Chicago-based hedge fund run by Ken Griffin, who ranked tenth on our list of the most successful investors in the world, based on net worth. Griffin is also a supporter of hedge fund activism, believing that activists will improve corporate governance in America. His fund ranks as one of the 140 Biggest and Most Famous Activist Hedge Funds in the world.

The enormous hedge fund’s 13F portfolio was valued at $99 billion at the end of 2016, with the largest portion of those funds being invested in information technology stocks (20.9%), followed by consumer discretionary stocks (16.6%) and finance stocks (15.6%). Based on its recent 13F filing with the SEC for the December 31 reporting period, the fund had a modest portfolio turnover percentage of 37.56% during the fourth quarter, though given the immense size of its portfolio, there were still dozens of major moves made. In the following article we’ll look at a few of the fund’s largest buys during the fourth quarter.

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Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Citadel Advisors increased its stake in Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Class A shares by 35% to 858,992 shares during the quarter ended December 31, lifting the value of its holding to $680 million. Stephen Errico’s Locust Wood Capital Advisers also bought 38,739 Class A shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the December quarter, hiking its stake to 73,739 shares. The stock is already up by 5.8% in 2017 and is trading near its 52-week-high. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) reported adjusted earnings of $9.36 per share for the fourth quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.64, though its revenue of $26.06 billion soundly topped estimates of $25.26 billion.

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

During the fourth quarter, Citadel Advisors doubled its stake in Visa Inc (NYSE:V) to 7.9 million shares with a value of $617 million. The $201 billion company has tremendous growth potential as major developing economies continue to shift to cash-less economies. The stock is currently trading near its yearly highs at $86.40 and has returned almost 23% over the last year. It also has a modest dividend yield of 0.76%. Visa Inc (NYSE:V) reported quarterly revenue of $4.5 billion and earnings per share of $0.86 for its fiscal first quarter, beating analyst expectations of $4.3 billion and $0.78, respectively. The payments technology company has an average rating of ‘Buy’ from the 38 analysts that track the stock.

On the next page we’ll dive into three more major moves executed by Citadel Advisors during the fourth quarter.

salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Citadel Advisors added 3.9 million shares of salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) to its 13F portfolio during the final quarter of 2016, increasing its holding to 6.1 million shares worth $417 million. The stock has been surging from the moment the calendar flipped to 2017, having already returned more than 18%. Recently, the enterprise cloud computing solutions company acquired digital design firm Sequence, which will enable salesforce.com to improve its interface design across its online portfolio of properties. In the middle of 2016, the company also acquired Demandware Inc. for $2.85 billion. salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) is guiding for fiscal 2017 revenue guidance in the range of $8.365 billion – $8.375 billion. Scott Ferguson‘s Sachem Head Capital initiated a position of 2.13 million shares of salesforce.com during the fourth quarter.

Sherwin-Williams Co (NYSE:SHW)

Citadel Advisors increased its holding in Sherwin-Williams Co’s (NYSE:SHW) by 1.5 million shares, after holding just 7,519 shares at the end of the third quarter. The position in now valued at $405 million. The company has agreed to buy rival paint maker Valspar for $113 per common share, with the transaction expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2017. The acquisition will further strengthen its position as a global provider of paints and make it the world’s biggest coatings maker. Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE:SHW) reported fourth quarter earnings of $2.42 per share, exceeding the consensus of $2.21, while revenue of $2.78 billion was also better than the $2.69 billion consensus.

Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR)

During the fourth quarter, Citadel Advisors bought more than 1 million shares of Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), increasing its total holding to 1.05 million shares with a value of $302 million. Charter Communications, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:CHTR)’s network reached 49 million businesses and homes as of the end of September 2016. For its third quarter, the company reported net income of $0.69 per share, besting the consensus estimate of $0.62. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is reportedly interested in pursuing an acquisition of Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), which would add heavily on the company’s $110 billion debt load. During the last year, Charter merged with Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) and Bright House Networks to become a rapidly growing TV and internet provider.

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