Billionaires Were Buying These Stocks Heading Into 2016

#3 Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM)

– Billionaires with Long Positions (as of December 31): 15

– Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of December 31): $3.63 billion

Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) saw billionaire investors making a beeline for its stock during the final quarter of 2015, as the company prepares for the completion of its acquisition by Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET). The total amount of billionaires in our system with ownership positions in the company increased by 66% and the aggregate value of their holdings in it swelled by almost $1.13 billion during the fourth quarter. Though Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM)’s stock was trading down by over 10% this year a few weeks ago, it has recouped those losses thanks to the company reporting better-than-expected fourth quarter numbers and now trades up by 2.66% year-to-date. The pending Aetna/Humana merger got a big boost recently after insurance regulators  in Florida, which is Humana’s key Medicare Advantage market, approved the deal without asking any of the two companies to divest any of their assets. Billionaire Andreas Halvorsen‘s Viking Global raised its stake in Humana by 13% to 4.33 million shares during the fourth quarter.

#2 Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA)

– Billionaires with Long Positions (as of December 31): 15

– Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of December 31): $4.75 billion

Moving on, the number of billionaire investors in our database with long positions in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA) increased by 50% and the aggregate value of their holdings in the stock jumped by over 95% during the fourth quarter. Billionaire John Paulson‘s Paulson & Co was among the hedge funds which increased its stake in the company during the October-to-December period; it held 20.4 million shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA) as of December 31. Shares of the Israeli pharmaceutical behemoth have been on a gradual decline this year and currently trade down by over 15% year-to-date. For the fourth quarter, the company reported EPS of $1.28, missing analysts’ estimates by $0.01, while revenue of $4.88 billion came in $50 million above expectations. On March 3, analysts at Nomura reiterated their ‘Neutral’ rating and $73 price target on the stock.

#1 EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC)

– Billionaires with Long Positions (as of December 31): 17

– Value of Billionaires’ Holdings (as of December 31): $3.13 billion

Finally, EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) was the stock which saw the largest surge in its popularity during the fourth quarter among the billionaire investors covered by Insider Monkey. During that period, the ownership of the company among said investors increased by seven and the aggregate value of their holdings in it jumped by 134%. EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC)’s stock saw a massive rise in early October after rumors started making the rounds that Dell Inc. would be acquiring the company. However, it gave up all of those gains in the months following the official announcement. Though Dell initially announced that it will be acquiring the company for $67 billion, making it the largest technology M&A deal ever, in a recently submitted regulatory filing it revealed that the deal’s value could fall to $57 billion because of the declining worth of EMC Corporation’s 83% stake in VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), whose stock has declined heavily since the deal was announced. Recent regulatory filings by Dell Inc. and EMC Corporation reveal that both companies have selected a team of executives to lead the various departments of the combined company. Billionaire Seth Klarman‘s Baupost Group was among the hedge funds which initiated a stake in EMC Corporation the fourth quarter; it held nearly 29.25 million shares of the company at the end of December.

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