Joel Greenblatt’s Top Value Investment Picks For The Fourth Quarter

#3 Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC)

– Shares Owned by Gotham Asset Management (as of September 30): 3.86 Million

– Value of Holding (as of September 30): $80.25 Million

Chicken products company Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) has seen its stock decline gradually since late-January and this continuous underperformance may have led Gotham Asset Management to reduce its stake in the company by 5% during the third quarter. On October 28 the company reported its third quarter earnings, declaring EPS of $0.58 on revenue of $2.11 billion, versus the Street’s estimates of $0.72 and $2.21 billion, respectively. John Smith Clark‘s Southpoint Capital Advisors increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ:PPC) during the third quarter by 250% to 350,000 shares.

#2 Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

– Shares Owned by Gotham Asset Management (as of September 30): 936,982

– Value of Holding (as of September 30): $92 Million

Moving on, Gotham Asset Management reduced its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 12% during the July-September period. However, other hedge funds were more optimistic about the stock as the number of hedge funds from our database that owned a stake in the company climbed to 90 at the end of Septmber from 84 at the end of June. Last week, an 18-month Senate investigation report on the company’s pricing of its bestselling Hepatitis C drugs ‘Sovaldi’ and ‘Harvoni’ was released. However, the stock barely reacted to it as no convincing wrongdoing on the part of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was found in the report. On December 2, analysts at Piper Jaffray reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating and $134 price target on the stock. By increasing its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. by 41% to over 6.15 million shares, billionaire David E. Shaw‘s firm D.E. Shaw continued to remain the company’s largest shareholder among the funds tracked by us at the end of September.

#1 Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA)

– Shares Owned by Gotham Asset Management (as of September 30): 1.37 Million

– Value of Holding (as of September 30): $92.86 Million

Finally, the 10% boost to Gotham Asset Management’s stake in the video game giant Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) during the July-September period helped the company in climbing six spots quarter-over-quarter and becoming the fund’s top stock pick at the end of September. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) has been one of the best performing tech stocks this year, advancing by around 50% year-to-date. Needless to say that this spectacular performance has also helped the company gain popularity among hedge funds. The number of the funds bullish on EA increased by 4 to 51, while the aggregate value of their holdings stood at over 11% of the company at the end of September. Wojciech Uzdelewicz‘s Espalier Global Management was one of the hedge funds that initiated a stake in Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) during the third quarter; it holds 75,000 shares of the company, as of September 30.

Disclosure: none