On the second spot is Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN), another E&P company, which inched up by 0.31% over the last year. A total of nine billionaires among the funds that we track have disclosed holding around $996.90 million worth of the company’s stock. Overall, the company was included in the equity portfolios of 58 of the funds that we track, down from 60 in the previous quarter. Again, Ken Griffin has been bullish on Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN) during the fourth quarter and raised Citadel’s stake by 78% to 8.64 million shares, while billionaire Israel Englander of Millennium Management upped the holding by 50% to some 3.88 million shares.
Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA (ADR) (NYSE:PBR) has also been one of the popular energy stocks among billionaires, with nine funds reporting ownership of $312.17 million of the company’s stock. Interestingly, many billionaires have boosted their positions in Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA (ADR) (NYSE:PBR). Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies added around 9.28 million shares to bring its total to 9.86 million shares, and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management raised its stake by 1,500% to 4.34 million shares. On the other hand, George Soros sold out his position of some 766,700 shares, which was initiated in the previous quarter and halved the amount of call options he holds. Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA (ADR) (NYSE:PBR) has been in the middle of a lot of uncertainty recently, including allegations of corruption, which together with falling oil prices led to the stock losing over 40% during the last year.
The decline in oil prices has also affected companies engaged in providing equipment and services for the oil & gas segment. Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), even though it lost 21% over the last 52 weeks, was the favorite oil & gas equipment and services company among billionaires, with eight billionaire-managed funds reporting holding the stock as of the end of 2014, including Ken Griffin, who cut his stake to 1.93 million shares, and Steven Cohen, who boosted his holding by 1,400% to 1.81 million shares. The last round of 13F filings showed a significant reduction in popularity for Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), with 63 funds reporting holding the stock, down from 72 in the previous quarter. However, the two largest shareholders among funds that we track: Jeffrey Ubben’s ValueAct Capital and Glenn Greenberg’s Brave Warrior Capital both initiated stakes in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) during the October-December period and held 20.90 million shares and 4.14 million shares respectively, showing extreme bullishness on this stock.
And finally there is Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) which only a couple of months ago was the second-largest company in terms of market cap, but as oil prices went down, that title was ceded to Microsoft Corporation. Nevertheless, at the end of 2014, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) was included in the equity portfolios of 62 funds, including 8 billionaires, down from 72 funds in the previous quarter. Billionaires Ken Griffin, Ken Fisher, and David Shaw have disclosed holding shares of Exxon in their latest 13F filings, although they trimmed their exposure to the company and raised the amount of Put options. Israel Englander, on the other hand, raised his stake by over 70% to 564,900 shares. However, in the equity portfolios of all billionaires, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) represents less than 1% of the total portfolio value. However, what’s more interesting is the fact that Warren Buffett sold out his entire position in Exxon Mobil, which contained 41.13 million shares previously and placed Berkshire Hathaway among the top shareholders of the company at the time.
Disclosure: None
