Ferdinand Groos‘ Cryder Capital has revealed its equity holdings as of the end of the first quarter in a 13F form filed with the SEC. Three of the fund’s top five picks, including Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp (NYSE:WAB), Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE:ADS), and Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) are from the industrials sector, while the other two, BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) and Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) are financial and consumer discretionary stocks.
Cryder Capital’s Managing Partner Ferdinand Groos founded the London-based fund in December 2010. Groos has also served as a Managing Director of Rhone Capital L.L.C. The fund filed its first 13F form for the fourth quarter of 2014 and its new 13F filing revealed a 5% cut in all holdings during the first quarter and one new stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO). The market value of the fund’s equity portfolio stood at $142.01 million with Information Technology and Industrial sectors representing 31% and 29% of the above value respectively. The portfolio comprised of a total of 13 holdings with top five stakes amassing more than 50% of the portfolio value.
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After the sale of 9,281 shares of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp (NYSE:WAB), the size of Cryder’s largest holding stood at 165,917 shares valued at $15.76 million. The $9.25 billion provider of locomotive overhauls and fleet maintenance is up by about 13.49% year to date. The company delivered record Earnings per Share (EPS) of $0.99 in the first quarter, which were 19% on the year, while Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp (NYSE:WAB)’s quarterly revenues also climbed by 18% to $819 million, primarily owing to growth in the Freight Group. Two other funds that piled up profits from Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp (NYSE:WAB)’s stock appreciation this year are Mariko Gordon‘s Daruma Asset Management and Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, judging by their stakes in the company at the end of 2014.
Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE:ADS) was Cryder’s largest holding in the fourth quarter, but a less stellar performance this year than Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp (NYSE:WAB) has left it in the second place with 51,065 shares valued at $15.13 million. The provider of data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions completed its acquisition of Conversant, another digital marketing firm in December last year. Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE:ADS)’s stock inched up by 7.79% year-to-date. Billionaire Ken Griffin decreased his exposure by 24% during the fourth quarter to 350,262 shares of Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE:ADS) valued at $100.19 million.
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK)‘s stake in Cryder’s portfolio was trimmed to 40,704 shares valued at $14.89 million, representing 10.49% of the portfolio value. Among the funds that we track, 35 hedge funds had an aggregate investment of $510.4 million in the investment management firm as compared to 29 funds with $285.22 million a quarter earlier. Christopher C. Grisanti’s Grisanti Brown & Partners held some 24,470 shares of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) valued at $87.50 million at the end of 2014. Germany’s counterpart of SEC, BaFin recently imposed a paltry fine of €3.25 million ($3.50 million) on BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) as the company had misrepresented its stakes in around 50 of Germany’s largest companies. Despite its relatively small size, the fine was the largest BaFin has ever given.
The industrial machinery & equipment industry is down by about 1.73% year to date, but Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP)‘s stock has risen by 8.05% during the same period. The fund holds about 81,400 shares of the company valued at $14.0 million. Dan Loeb‘s Third Point held about 1.3 million shares of Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) at the end of last year, alongside 29 other investors from our database. In March, Barclays reiterated its ‘Overweight’ rating on the company’s stock and lowered the price target to $185 from $187.
Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON)‘s stake in Cryder’s portfolio amounted to some 121,300 shares valued at $13.65 million. The $55.64 billion provider of agricultural products for farmers is the only loser in this list based on the year-to-date performance of its stock, which edged down by 2.18%. By the end of 2014, Larry Robbins’ Glenview Capital held the largest stake in Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) among the funds that we track.
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