Maverick Capital’s Largest New Positions: EMC Corporation (EMC), Crown Castle International Corp. (CCI), Fidelity National Information Services (FIS)

With the most recent quarter over, we have been able to compile over four hundred 13F filings that were submitted to the SEC in the past few weeks. These filings outline the positions that hedge funds and money managers are holding during that quarter, and our proprietary analysis lets us decipher what the smart money is doing, where the inflows and outflows are, and where new value has been discovered. We started publishing a quarterly newsletter last September, and our small-cap strategy contained within has netted a 36% gain since then (find more information about it here). The following list represents the five largest positions which Lee Ainslie of Maverick Capital saw fit to commit capital to in the final months of 2012.

EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) was the largest of Maverick’s newest purchase, earning a $161mm investment from the fund (that amounts to about 2.4% of the fund’s total AUM). The IT infrastructure player owns 80% of VMware, whose shares dropped 20% after issuing poor guidance in its latest quarterly release in January; seven downgrades followed shortly thereafter. However, Longbow Research is a new fan of parent company EMC, initiating coverage with a Buy and setting a $30 price target (over 20% away from current levels). EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) is looking to bolster shareholder value with a $1bn stock buyback program in 2013. Billionaire Andreas Halvorsen of Viking Global made a new purchase worth $117mm as well (read about his portfolio here).

Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE:CCI) was the second biggest of the sixteen purchases made by Maverick, grabbing almost $109mm of the fund’s capital. The company operates and leases communication towers (totaling near 7,100 now after a completed agreement with T-Mobile USA). CCI sees larger profits in its future with the four major cellular networks upgrading to LTE. Analyst firms like Pacific Crest and Evercore Partners have high hopes for the company as well, even after a share price appreciation of 30% in the past twelve months. Billionaire Stephen Mandel of Lone Pine Capital carries almost 2.9mm shares of Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE:CCI) (take a look at the fund’s full holdings here).

Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS) received a 1.5% allocation from Maverick, amounting to slightly over $100mm of the fund’s AUM. FIS carries a respectable dividend of 2.3% (recently increased in February); the yield has complemented its trailing twelve month’s gain, besting the market by six percentage points. The bank technology provider completed its purchase of mFoundry at the end of January, a company that provides mobile banking services to the likes of PNC and BofA. Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS) saw increased interest from hedge funds going into the end of 2012; out of the hundreds of funds we track, 28 held FIS in Q3 2012, while 35 claimed ownership in Q4. Billionaire Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group bumped up his call option position according to his newest 13F (check out his other positions here).

Which other stocks received new allocations in Q4 2012?