Billionaires Joshua Friedman and Mitchell Julis Are Heavily Bullish On These Stocks

#3 MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM)

 – Shares Owned by Canyon Capital Advisors (as of September 30): 13.3 Million

 – Value of Holding (as of September 30): $245.26 Million

After increasing its stake in MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) by a whopping 372% during the second quarter, Canyon Capital Advisors again raised its stake in the company, by 22% during the third quarter. However, other hedge funds didn’t share the same bullishness as Canyon Capital Advisors , as the number of hedge funds covered by Insider Monkey with a stake in the company dropped to 49 at the end of September from 58 at the end of June. For the third quarter MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) reported EPS of $0.12 on revenue of $2.28 billion. Analysts had expected the company to report EPS of $0.04 on revenue of $2.30 billion. With ownership of nearly 15.84 million shares at the end of September, Daniel S. Och‘s OZ Management continued to remain the largest shareholder of the company among the funds covered by us.

#2 Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:ALLY)

 – Shares Owned by Canyon Capital Advisors (as of September 30): 12.4 Million

 – Value of Holding (as of September 30): $253.0 Million

Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:ALLY)’s stock has been on a continuous decline since the start of the second-half of the year and currently trades down by more than 16% year-to-date. Canyon Capital Advisors boosted its holding in Ally Financial Inc (NYSE:ALLY) by 3% during the July-to-September period, which helped the stock retain its position as the fund’s second-largest equity holding going into the fourth quarter. On November 12, analysts at BTIG Research reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating and $32 price target on the stock of the bank holding company. Among the 57 hedge funds covered by Insider Monkey that disclosed having a stake in the company at the end of September, Stephen Feinberg‘s Cerberus Capital Management was the largest shareholder, owning 41.5 million shares of Ally Financial Inc.

#1 Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

 – Shares Owned by Canyon Capital Advisors (as of September 30): 6.79 Million

 – Value of Holding (as of September 30): $386.2 Million

Finally, it seems Canyon Capital Advisors quickly changed its mind on Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), as after reducing its stake in the company by 30% during the second quarter, the fund increased its stake in the company by 25% during the third quarter. Regardless, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) continued to remain the fund’s top equity pick for the third quarter in a row. Shares of Comcast Corporation have remained largely range-bound this year, but its popularity among hedge funds has been on the rise over the past few months. Of the more than 700 hedge funds that we cover, 80 reported having a stake in the company as of the end of September, up from 76 as of the end of June. On November 10, analysts at SunTrust initiated coverage on the stock with a ‘Neutral’ rating and $66 price target, which represents a potential upside of 6.66%. D.E. Shaw, founded by billionaire David E. Shaw, doubled its stake in the company during the third trimester, to 6.4 million shares.

Disclosure: None