Peconic Partners held a rather small stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) amounting to 8,050 shares valued at $889,000, but it still added to the fund’s returns as the stock of the tech giant appreciated by 13.17% during the first quarter. Now that iPhone 6 is a slightly older story, analysts are focusing on the prospects of Apple Pay and the recently released Apple Watch. While some regard the smartwatch as a breakthrough in terms of freeing the user from smartphone (the watch keeps you remotely connected to the device all the time) in sort of a similar way as smartphones reduced our dependence on PC, many others have complained about the device’s low battery life and limited navigation abilities and claimed that they would rather wait for improvements in the subsequent model if they decided to buy the new gadget at all. Among over 700 hedge funds that we track, Carl Icahn‘s Icahn Capital held the highest stake in the company with 52.7 million shares valued at $5.82 billion.
Harnisch initiated a stake in Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) during the fourth quarter with 376,600 shares valued at $22.99 billion. The timely investment has rewarded him well as the operator of 1,162 department stores located in 49 U.S. states appreciated by 28.98% during the first three months of 2015 amid strong fourth quarter financial results. The company’s growth strategy for the next three years referred to as Greatness Agenda relies on better marketing to promote its products, involving steps such as offering customers an easier shopping experience, personalized connections and incredible savings. Among the billionaires that we track, six had invested a total of $2.06 billion in the company at the end of the fourth quarter, including Israel Englander of Millenium Management and Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group.
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)’s stock sported first quarter returns of 8.29%, while Peconic’s stake in the company stood at 1.17 million shares valued at $40.83 million. The automotive company announced 8% growth in China-based sales for March, with units sold amounted to 338,350. The legendary investor Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway held a whopping 41 million shares valued at $1.43 billion of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) in his equity portfolio towards the end of 2014.
A newly initiated position that didn’t work out for Harnisch was in Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE:LL) as the stock drastically slid by 53.58% during the quarter. This was a consequence of an episode of the TV show “60 Minutes”, in which it is alleged that some of Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE:LL)’s flooring products contained dangerously high levels of formaldehyde. The investigation by the Consumer Product Safety Comission (CPSC) is still ongoing and the company’s stock has gained some ground as investors feel that the CPSC’s testing methods for formaldehyde are less restrictive than those used on the TV show. Peconic’s stake in the Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE:LL) amounted to 142,700 shares valued at $9.46 million. Another investor with a significant stake is Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management, which held 1.31 million shares valued at $87.05 million at the end of the fourth quarter.
Disclosure: none
