AQR Capital Management LLC was founded in 1998 by former Goldman Sachs portfolio manager Cliff Asness. The Connecticut-based hedge fund was also co-founded by Asness’ former colleagues at Goldman Sachs including David Kabiller, Robert Krail and John Liew. The founding group of investment professionals at AQR Capital Management is well-known for their valuable experience in developing and managing quantitative investment strategies, as they have been working together since the late 1980’s at Goldman Sachs. Asness, a hedge fund genius, is currently acting as the Chief Investment Officer at AQR Capital and co-manages a public equity portfolio worth $43.76 billion as of March 31. As AQR employs a dynamic value investment style, we would like to showcase the fund’s long-term holdings in this article, all of which it has held for at least a decade. These companies are Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ).
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AQR Capital Management added to its equity stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the first quarter, with the position now amounting to 6.89 million shares valued at $857.71 million following the fund’s acquisition of 529,740 shares during the quarter. Apple, which owns one of the most profitable businesses ever, doesn’t need much of an introduction. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s shares have increased by over 18% year-to-date and there are no signs that the stock will stop rising any time soon, as the company has been constantly growing over the last decade and has mounds of cash to facilitate yet further growth. Only a few days ago, Apple reported the acquisition of Metaio, a deeply-rooted company in the augmented reality industry. It is anticipated that the acquisition will enhance Apple’s virtual reality and augmented reality ventures and will also expose the tech giant to some of the interesting projects Metaio has cooking. It is no surprise that Carl Icahn is Apple’s largest shareholder in our database, since the activist investor claimed last year that Apple’s shares were significantly undervalued and has been a very vocal champion of the company.
Asness’ hedge fund increased its equity holding in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.86 million shares during the first quarter, reporting a total stake of 13.22 million shares worth $537.46 million as of March 31. Despite the fact the stock has increased by only 0.88% since the beginning of the year, Microsoft’s shares have been riding a strong uptrend in recent quarters. This week, Microsoft announced that it intends to make great efforts in guaranteeing that its app store doesn’t contain any useless and costly apps. Thus, it might be the case that the company will be able to boost revenues from its apps store by eliminating the current state of disorder and confusion. By taking a look at the massive pool of hedge funds that we track, Jeffrey Ubben’s ValueAct Capital is by far the largest shareholder in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), owning approximately 75.27 million shares.
AQR Capital Management sold 995,563 shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) during the first quarter, decreasing its holding to 12.94 million shares valued at $450.11 million. On Thursday Pfizer attained regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration to use the Rapamune drug as a treatment for the lung disorder lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), which mostly affects women. This approval might unlock a niche revenue stream for the major biotech firm. Additionally, it’s been rumored that Pfizer intends to acquire the French cancer drug maker, Cellectis, which of course will spur further growth for the company. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management is one of the largest equity holders in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) from our extensive database.
AQR Capital Management also increased its equity stake slightly in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), lifting the fund’s position to 4.47 million shares valued at $449.61 million as of March 31. Even though the stock has decreased by slightly more than 4% year-to-date, J&J’s shares, which are currently trading at just over $100, might represent a relatively good buying opportunity. Last July, when J&J’s shares were trading at around 105$, the company announced a $5 billion share repurchase program with no specific time limit. Indeed, this might have suggested that J&J’s management considered the company’s shares were relatively undervalued at that time, which would suggest that they are even more undervalued today. Moreover, Johnson & Johnson has recently accepted a $1.94 billion offer to sell its Cordis heart devices unit to Cardinal Health, which might suggest that the company is trying to divest its relatively underperforming units. Donald Yacktman’s Yacktman Asset Management is one of the other hedge funds from our database that owns a sizable stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), of 8.43 million shares.
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