Edwards Lifesciences Corp (EW), QUALCOMM, Inc. (QCOM): David Blood and Al Gore Bet Big on Healthcare and Tech

Nevertheless, let’s take a more detailed look at GIM’s three largest holdings, since all three stocks provided strong returns over the long term. In Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP), the fund reported holding 7.11 million shares, valued at $558.39 million. The position was opened during the last quarter of 2013 and initially contained only 2.11 million shares, but was consequently increased as the stock appreciated by over 21% during 2014. With several hacker attacks launched last year on JP Morgan, Target, and Home Depot, concerns over IT Security could have a significant impact on security software sales and Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) could be one of the companies to benefit from that. Among the investors that we track, Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group is also bullish on Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP). The fund added 1.80 million shares to its stake during the third quarter, taking it to 1.83 million shares.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW) remained on the second spot in GIM’s equity portfolio, even though the fund unloaded around 1.38 million shares during the last quarter. It was the first sale after the stake was initiated during the first quarter and contained 2.38 million shares. The company saw a significant inflow of capital from investors during the fourth quarter as 35 funds reported holding $1.44 billion worth of stock, versus $1.05 billion in the previous quarter. Cliff Asness‘ AQR Capital Management is among the funds that boosted their stakes in Edwards Lifesciences Corp (NYSE:EW) during the fourth quarter, doubling its stake to 1.38 million shares.

In comparison with Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) and Edwards Lifesciences, QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) represents a more long-term position, being included in GIM’s equity portfolio since the first quarter of 2010. During the last five years, the investor raised its stake in the company to 6.74 million shares, from 2.06 million shares held initially, while the stock gained around 67% during this period. At the end of 2014, the position was valued at $501.21 million, moving down to the third spot from the first as the fund sold around 963,700 shares during the last three months of last year. The chipmaker might take a hit soon as it has been recently speculated that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is switching to Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) to deliver its wireless modem chips, which will partially replace QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s chips that have been used in the past. Amid such rumors, investors seem to be more pesimistic about QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM)’s prospects, as the number of funds holding shares of the company among those that we track fell to 61 during the fourth quarter from 75 a quarter earlier. Sandy Nairn’s Edinburgh Partners holds 1.62 million shares as of the end of 2014.

Disclosure: none