Since we are past the fourth quarter, we are entering the period when investors publish their 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Institutional investors usually have 60 days to disclose their equity portfolios as held at the end of the previous quarter. Horseman Capital Management, is one of the first hedge funds to disclose its holdings as owned at the end of the 2013. Managed by John Horseman, the fund is headquartered in London and was founded in 2001. At the end of the fourth quarter of last year, Horseman’s equity portfolio had a value of $322.72 million, up from $285.66 million at the end of September. The portfolio contains 22 positions, down by two over the quarter.
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With this in mind, we have picked five companies, in which Horseman Capital Management has disclosed its largest positions in terms of value. While the companies per say didn’t change much, the value of the fund’s positions among the top five has increased, as well as the fund tweaked the amount of shares it holds in these companies.
The largest holding in the Horseman’s latest 13F is represented by Vipshop Holdings Ltd – ADR (NYSE:VIPS), in which the fund revealed ownership of 371,763 shares, down from 401,563 shares held in the third quarter of 2013. The value of the stake, however, surged to $31.11 million, from $22.81 million. Following the gain in the value of the stake, the holding managed to climb up one position, replacing Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW), in which the fund held its largest stake, according to the previous 13F form.
The stock of Vipshop Holdings Ltd – ADR (NYSE:VIPS) gained 47.3% during the last quarter of last year. The company posted a significant increase in its revenues for the third quarter of 2013, which boosted by nearly 150% over the year, to $383.7 million. Vipshop Holdings Ltd – ADR (NYSE:VIPS) also showed a net income of $12.0 million, versus a loss of $1.5 million in the same period of 2012.
The next on the list is Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), in which the fund raised its position to 24,900 shares, with a reported value of $27.91 million. Earlier, the fund owned 20,058 shares, worth $20.06 million. Google’s stock posted a significant gain during the last year, advancing by around 50% and gained approximately 27% during the fourth quarter. Among the highlights of the previous quarter, aside from the increase of the popularity of Android OS on mobile devices and solid financial results, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) also managed to launch several new products.
Also, in December, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) acquired Boston Dynamics, an engineering company, that designed some of the greatest robots. Following the latest acquisition, Google, reportedly, bought eight companies engaged in robotics, which could mean that it has some big plans regarding this particular market.
The third-largest holding is a $25.84 million stake held by Horseman in Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC). The fund raised its exposure to the company during the September-December period, increasing the number of shares held to 569,200 shares, from 523,600 owned previously. The largest shareholder of Wells Fargo is the notorious Berkshire Hathaway, managed by Warren Buffett. Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) is also the largest holding in the Berkshire’s equity portfolio, as at the end of September.
Of late, Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) reported about coming to an agreement with the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), regarding the repurchase of loans sold to Fannie Mae before 2009. The $591 million agreement, was adjusted and settled in a one-time cash payment to Fannie Mae, worth $541 million, Wells Fargo said. The bank holding company accrued for the cost of the agreement at the end of September.
Horseman has also been bullish on Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) during the fourth quarter. In its latest 13F, the fund reported holding 135,500 shares of the company, up from 124,600 shares owned previously. The value of the position advanced to $24.02 million, from $19.71 million at the end of September. The investment banking, securities and investment management firm, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), reported EPS worth $2.88 for the third quarter of last year, up by $0.03 over the year and above the average analyst estimates of $2.43. The company also raised its quarterly dividend during the previous quarter, by $0.05 to $0.55 per common share.
And the last but not the least is Coach, Inc. (NYSE:COH), in which Horseman disclosed ownership of 417,000 shares, up from 387,000 shares owned at the end of the third quarter. The value of the holding amounted to $23.41 million at the end of December. Out of the funds we track, at the end of the third quarter, the largest stake in Coach, Inc. (NYSE:COH) was revealed by Lone Pine Capital, led by Stephen Mandel, which owned 6.48 million shares, followed by Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies and Jeffrey Gates‘ Gates Capital Management, which held 1.65 million, and 1.34 million shares. All of the top shareholders of Coach, Inc. (NYSE:COH) have been bullish on the company, raising their holdings during the third quarter, so we should see if they had the same sentiment in the fourth quarter.
Disclosure: none
