Billionaire Ray Dalio Sells Off Major Gold Stock Position, Loads Up On Intel, Apple, Microsoft

Ray Dalio is the founder of one of the largest global hedge funds in the world, Bridgewater Associates, which manages funds for approximately 350 global institutional clients including public and corporate pension funds, university endowments, charitable foundations, supranational agencies, sovereign wealth funds and central banks. In July 2011, Ray Dalio officially gave up his role as the CEO of Bridgewater Associates, instead taking the title “Mentor.” As of September 30, Bridgewater Associates manages over $10 billion in 13F equity funds (which comprise only a small part of the fund’s total portfolio) and was up 1.2% in the third quarter for 2016. Given Bridgewater Associates’ track record and resources, let’s take a look at some of the fund’s major equity moves in Q3.

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Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:VWO) is the biggest 13F holding of Bridgewater Associates, with the fund holding 80 million shares of this ETF valued at more than $3 billion at the end of the third quarter. Bridgewater added 10.4 million shares to its position, increasing its stake by 14%. The ETF has total assets under management (AUM) of more than $41 billio and as the name suggests, the ETF invests in companies located in emerging markets around the world and tracks the FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index. Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:VWO) has a very low expense ratio of just 0.15% and had 4272 stocks in its portfolio at the end of the third quarter. 13 elite funds from our system held shares worth $3.2 billion in this stock as of September 30th.

Bridgewater Associates held 1.5 million shares in Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) valued at $57 million as per the latest 13F filing. That’s up over half a million shares from the end of Q2. Bulls like Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) because it sports a high gross margin in excess of 60% due to its unique technology, vertical integration, and dominant position in PC/servers. The company has also entered the Internet of Things (IOT) and other growth areas. While its stock hasn’t wowed year-to-date like AMD’s, Intel pays a respectable 3% yield at current prices. Of the 742 elite funds we track, 68 funds owned $4.88 billion of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and accounted for 2.20% of the float on September 30, versus 57 funds and $3.41 billion respectively on June 30.

Bridgewater Associates raised its stake in Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) by 185% in the third quarter, giving it 346,600 shares, good for a market value of $39 million at the end of Q3. Although it makes up a small part of the company’s total revenues, demand for the Apple watch is strong, as CEO Tim Cook recently disclosed in an email that: “in fact, during the first week of holiday shopping, our sell-through of Apple Watch was greater than any week in the product’s history. And as we expected, we’re on track for the best quarter ever for Apple Watch”. Bulls hope that Apple will launch other non-iPhone products that can make a dent in Apple’s bottom line in the future. 145 elite funds were long Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at the end of September, up 29 funds from the previous quarter.

Dalio was a fan of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), as his fund more than doubled its holdings during Q3 in the software giant to 623,548 shares, worth $35.91 million at the end of September. Although the PC sector is still shrinking, Microsoft has successfully maintained its growth outlook by bulking up in the cloud space. Of the 30 analysts covering the stock, 20 rate it as a buy while only 1 analyst rates it as a sell. The company earned $2.67 per share last year and analysts expect it to report an EPS of $2.96 per share this year. 126 elite funds had a bullish position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) at the end of September, down 5 funds from the previous quarter.

As per Bridgewater’s last 13F filing, the fund sold its position in Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX) during the third quarter. It was one of the top sells of the fund for the quarter ending September. The fund’s sale turned out to be fortuitious as gold front month contract prices have dipped well below the $1,200 per oz mark on the back of anticipation that Trump’s potential pro-inflationary fiscal policies might cause the Fed to raise rates faster. Of the 27 analysts covering this stock, 12 have rated it as a buy while 12 have rated it as a hold. More than 15% of the company’s float as of September 30th was held by 45 elite funds from our database.

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