In this article, we’ll take a look at billionaire Michael Platt‘s top 5 stock picks. To learn more about billionaire Michael Platt and his fund BlueCrest Capital Management and see a more comprehensive list of companies, take a look at billionaire Michael Platt’s Top 10 Stock Picks.
5. Ferguson PLC (NYSE:FERG)
Shares held by BlueCrest Capital Management: 125,239
Value of Position: $16.75 million
Ferguson PLC (NYSE:FERG) represents a new addition in Michael Platt’s BlueCrest Capital 13F portfolio, with the fund acquiring around 125,000 shares between January and March. Overall, there were 62 funds in our database bullish on Ferguson PLC (NYSE:FERG) at the end of March, up by nine over the quarter. Aside from BlueCrest, other notable shareholders of Ferguson PLC (NYSE:FERG) include Nelson Peltz‘s Trian Partners, John Smith Clark‘s Southpoint Capital Advisors, and Brian Ashford-Russell and Tim Woolley‘s Polar Capital.
Since the beginning of the year, shares of Ferguson PLC (NYSE:FERG), a British-American distributor of plumbing and heating products, grew by 14% and it currently has a dividend yield of 2.95%. In April, Ferguson declared a dividend of $0.75 per share. For the second quarter of fiscal 2023, the company reported EPS of $1.91, which missed the estimates by $0.04, but its revenue of $6.82 billion inched up by 4.8% on the year and topped the expectations by $150 million.
4. Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Shares held by BlueCrest Capital Management: 187,545
Value of Position: $19.45 million
BlueCrest also more than doubled its position in Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to some 187,500 shares during the first quarter. Alphabet is one of the most popular stocks among hedge funds tracked by us, with 204 funds and 155 holding class A and class C stock, respectively.
Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has had a pretty solid year so far, as its stock has surged by nearly 40%. In its first-quarter letter to investors, Diamond Hill Capital highlighted Alphabet among the top contributors to its returns.
“Shares of media and technology giant Alphabet outperformed as the company announced expense discipline while continuing to invest in its core products of Google Search, YouTube and Google Cloud.”
On the other hand, Baron Funds has reduced its position in Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), mentioning in its “Baron Opportunity Fund” investor letter for the first quarter that they believe that “ChatGPT and/or similar AI-based services present a hard-to-measure risk to Google’s virtual search monopoly.”
3. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd – ADR (NYSE:BABA)
Shares held by BlueCrest Capital Management: 273,500
Value of Position: $27.95 million
Michael Platt’s fund acquired 273,500 shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd – ADR (NYSE:BABA) but also added 514,200 shares worth of CALL options during the first quarter. With 128 funds holding $5.88 billion worth of stock, Alibaba currently tops the list of 5 best Chinese stocks to buy now.
Similarly to another Chinese eCommerce company that made the list of billionaire Michael Platt’s top 10 stock picks, JD.com Inc (NASDAQ:JD), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd – ADR (NYSE:BABA) saw its shares decline amid fears regarding the state of the Chinese economy. Recently, the tech behemoth reported its results for the first quarter, with both earnings per ADS of $1.56 and revenue of $30.32 billion topping the consensus estimates. In addition, the company announced plans to spin off its Cloud intelligence Group and distribute the stock of the new company to shareholders.
2. Mr Cooper Group Inc (NASDAQ:COOP)
Shares held by BlueCrest Capital Management: 817,222
Value of Position: $33.48 million
Mr Cooper Group Inc (NASDAQ:COOP) is a provider of home loan services in the US and its stock has appreciated by 14% so far this year. Amid this growth, BlueCrest added nearly 295,000 shares to its position during the first quarter.
Earlier this month, Mr Cooper Group Inc (NASDAQ:COOP) announced reaching an agreement to acquire Home Point Capital Inc (NASDAQ:HMPT) for $324 million in cash. In addition, Mr Cooper will assume $500 million worth of Home Point’s outstanding debt due in February 2026. Following the acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter, Home Point will shut down its operations and Mr Cooper Group Inc (NASDAQ:COOP) will get an $84 billion servicing portfolio.
There were just 29 funds tracked by Insider Monkey bullish on Mr Cooper Group Inc (NASDAQ:COOP) at the end of March. Among these funds, Parag Vora’s HG Vora Capital Management, Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital, and David Rosen’s Rubric Capital Management rank as the top shareholders with stakes worth $133.15 million, $113.80 million, and $109.66 million, respectively.
1. Criteo SA (NASDAQ:CRTO)
Shares held by BlueCrest Capital Management: 2.26 million
Value of Position: $71.20 million
Last but not least, Criteo SA (NASDAQ:CRTO) tops the list of billionaire Michael Platt’s top 5 stock picks. BlueCrest Capital left its position unchanged over the quarter, at 2.26 million shares. The position makes BlueCrest the top shareholder of Criteo among the funds in our database, followed by Richard Mashaal’s Rima Senvest Management and Malcolm Levine’s Dendur Capital, which own 1.99 million hares, and 1.53 million shares, respectively. Overall, only 15 funds disclosed stakes in the company in the latest round of 13F filings.
French-based Criteo SA (NASDAQ:CRTO) is an online advertising company and is currently one of the best advertising agency stocks to buy, according to our analysis of the hedge fund sentiment. Its stock has advanced by 24% since the beginning of the year amid the company reporting a solid first quarter with EPS of $0.46 topping the estimates by $0.22 and revenue of $221 million beating the consensus by $7.05 million. During the earnings call, Criteo SA (NASDAQ:CRTO) CEO Megan Clarken said that the company is working hard to execute its transformation strategy and take advantage of growth opportunities.
“Notwithstanding the near-term challenging macro-economic environment, our trajectory is intact. In Q1, we delivered continued strong growth in Retail Media and Commerce Audiences, which, combined with Iponweb, more than offset some of the pressures we’ve seen in Retargeting. While Retargeting remains an area of continued focus and opportunity, our New Solutions have now become close to half of our top line and will become the larger part of our mix going forward,” Clarken added.
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