Let’s now move to JD.Com Inc(ADR) (NASDAQ:JD). Out of the 730 actively reporting hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 75 were long in the stock at the end of the second quarter, with the funds owning 25.30% of the company’s shares. The aggregate investment value in the Chinese electronic commerce company by these funds was also up by 43.59% during the quarter to $11.81 billion. The bullish stance by hedge funds on JD.Com Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:JD) was quite predictive of the stock’s performance in the second quarter, having gained 16.07%. The company is facing stiff competition from China’s largest e-commerce website, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), which invested in Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd, which is JD.Com’s rival. JD.Com Inc is also facing challenges due to the general slowdown in the Chinese market. At the end of the second quarter, billionaire Lei Zhang’s Hillhouse Capital Management emerged as the biggest shareholder of the company in our database, holding 142.95 million shares valued at $4.87 billion.
Hedge funds were quite bullish on Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB) during the second quarter of 2015. The quarter saw the number of hedge funds invested in the stock increase to 86 from just 60. Their aggregate ownership represented 24.80% of the company’s shares. Most of the funds chose to increase their positions in the stock, while others created new positions, increasing the aggregate hedge fund investment in the stock by 60.68% to $10.64 billion. Out of the top ten shareholders that we track, only three reduced their positions in Williams Companies Inc (NYSE:WMB). The second quarter saw the shares of the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based energy company gain 14.67%. The company has been reviewing its activities, leading to strong earnings results for its most recent reporting period. This was particularly so because of its growing supply of fee-based cash flow, a move that cushions it against commodity prices. The company recently rejected a merger proposal from Energy Transfer Equity (NYSE:ETE), although the books are still open for the company and any other possible suitors, with Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE:SE) being among them. Out of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Corvex Capital, headed by Keith Meister, emerged as the biggest shareholder, with 41.68 million shares valued at $2.39 billion.
To conclude, let’s now look at Liberty Global plc – Class C Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:LBTYK), the London-based telecommunications and television company. Of the hedge funds monitored by Insider Monkey, 88 of them had long positions in the stock as of June 30, down from 90 at the beginning of the quarter. Similarly, the funds’ aggregate investment was also down to $9.67 billion from $10.14 billion at the beginning of the quarter. Nonetheless, the aggregate ownership of these funds represented 21.70% of the company’s shares. The moves made by these hedge funds in the stock were not overly significant, which is also reflective of the stock’s performance during the second quarter, having gained just 1.65%. Year-to-date however, Liberty Global plc – Class C Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:LBTYK) is down by 6.33%, mainly being impacted by the stock’s 10.63% loss in share price since the beginning of July. The company recently acquired 138.7 million shares of ITV plc, a London-based media company, boosting its stake in the company to 398.5 million shares, equivalent to an approximate 9.9% of ITV plc’s ordinary shares. Boykin Curry‘s Eagle Capital Management emerged as the biggest shareholder of Liberty Global at the end of the second quarter, owning 30.16 million shares valued at $1.53 billion.
Disclosure: None
