Investing Legend Donald Yacktman Trims Stake in Major Holdings Going Into Q2

#3 Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOXA)

 – Shares held by Yacktman Asset Management (as of March 31): 40.35 million

 – Value of Holding (as of March 31): $1.13 billion

Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOXA) is the only company among Yacktman Asset Management’s 17 largest equity holdings in which the fund increased its stake during the first quarter, by 4%. While shares of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ:FOXA) have appreciated by 9% so far this year, they are still trading down by nearly 25% from the highs they reached in late-2014. On May 4, the media and entertainment behemoth reported its first quarter financial numbers, declaring EPS of $0.47 on revenue of $7.23 billion, largely in-line with analysts’ projections of EPS of $0.47 on revenue of $7.19 billion. While revenue from Cable Network Programming was up by 9.8% year-over-year during the quarter, the company’s film business saw a 2.8% year-over-year decline in revenue. However, despite the decline in revenue, the first quarter was the second-best one ever for the company’s film business in terms of profit, which came in at $470 million. Following the earnings release, analysts at Stifel Nicolaus reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating on the stock, while upping their price target on it to $32 from $29. Hedge funds that reduced their stake in the company during the first quarter included David Harding‘s Winton Capital Management, which brought its holding down by 12% to around 2.00 million shares.

#2 PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)

 – Shares held by Yacktman Asset Management (as of March 31): 13.40 million

 – Value of Holding (as of March 31): $1.37 billion

Moving on, Yacktman Asset Management lowered its stake in PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) by 7% during the first quarter. PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP)’s stock suffered a minor blip after the company announced its first quarter earnings results recently, but has been rallying ever since. It hit its lifetime high of $106.93 in the latest trading session and currently boasts year-to-date gains of 5.36%. For its first quarter, the company managed to beat analysts’ projections of $0.81 in EPS on $11.85 billion in revenue, topping those estimates by $0.08 and $50 million respectively. On May 3, PepsiCo hiked its quarterly dividend by 7.1% to $0.7525 per share, which currently translates into a respectable annual dividend yield of 2.82%. Billionaire Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management inched up its stake in the company by 1% to 5.36 million shares during the first quarter.

#1 Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG)

 – Shares held by Yacktman Asset Management (as of March 31): 19.44 million

 – Value of Holding (as of March 31): $1.6 billion

Despite Yacktman Asset Management reducing its stake in Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG) by 12% during the first quarter, the company continued to remain the fund’s top stock pick as of March 31, a position that it has held since the second half of 2015. The stock of Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG) was beaten down aggressively during the first nine months of 2015, but it has steadily rise since then and is currently trading up by 3% in 2016. Despite this rally, most analysts don’t have a bullish view on the stock, largely because of the continuous decline seen in the company’s revenue of late. 12 of the 25 leading analysts on the Street who cover the stock currently have a ‘Hold’ rating on it. On May 2, analysts at B. Riley reiterated their ‘Neutral’ rating and $74 price target on it, which represents potential downside risk of over 10%. Clifford Fox’s Columbus Circle Investors initiated a stake in Procter & Gamble during the first quarter, purchasing 1.62 million shares of the company.

Disclosure: None