In its latest 13F filing, Blue Ridge Capital, managed by John Griffin, disclosed its equity portfolio held as at the end of June 2014. The market value of the portfolio amounted to $10.1 billion and showed a strong focus on services stocks in the second quarter. In this piece, we will talk about top three holdings we have picked from the fund’s latest 13F.
On the top spot is Endo International PLC (NASDAQ:ENDP), in which the fund reduced its stake to 6.82 million shares from 8 million shares. The market value of the current stake is $477.2 million. Endo International PLC (NASDAQ:ENDP) is a global specialty healthcare company, which has a market cap of more than $9 billion. The company recently completed the acquisition of DAVA Pharmaceuticals Inc., which specializes in generic pharmaceuticals. Under the agreement, Endo International PLC (NASDAQ:ENDP) paid $575 million in cash to acquire DAVA Pharmaceuticals, and the deal includes additional cash consideration of up to $25 million contingent on the achievement of certain sales milestones, according to a news release.
For the second quarter of 2014, Endo International PLC (NASDAQ:ENDP) reported net income of $21 million, down from net income of $35 million in the same period of last year. The company’s reported diluted EPS for the second quarter was $0.13, compared reported earnings per share of $0.30 in same quarter of 2013. Its revenues in the second quarter rose by 1% to $719 million from revenues of $712 million in the second quarter of 2013.
Second position is occupied by Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG), a drugstore chain with a market cap of $59.3 billion. The company recently named Timothy McLevish as executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO), according to a press release. Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG) reported an 8.9% increase in its sales in June 2014 to $6.28 billion from $5.77 billion for the same month in fiscal 2013. The company’s total front-end sales rose by 1.8% in June, compared with the same month in fiscal 2013, according to a statement.
The largest shareholders of Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG) include Viking Global, led by Andreas Halvorsen, and JANA Partners’ Barry Rosenstein, holding 20.14 million shares and 11.11 million shares, respectively.
Third most valuable holding is Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), in which the fund reported holding 2.73 million shares, worth $432.4 million. Previously, the fund held 2.83 million shares of Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), which is a broadband communications company and the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States. Other largest shareholders of Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) include SPO Advisory Corp, managed by John H. Scully, which owns 8.67 million shares, and William B. Gray’s Orbis Investment Management, which holds 3.77 million shares.
John Griffin, who was second in command at Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management. Griffin started Blue Ridge Capital in 1996, and he was one of the top hedge fund managers in 2007, returning 65% and pocketing $625 million. In addition, Griffin made $175 million in 2005, and his fund lost only around 8% in 2008.
Disclosure: none
