Nehal Chopra’s Top Moves Going Into 2016

Moving on, Ratan Capital Group didn’t make any changes to its stake in Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) during the fourth quarter as it continued to own 341,600 shares of the company worth $62.55 million as of December 31. Shares of the company have moved up over the past few days in anticipation of its merger with Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) and Bright House Networks being completed without any major hiccups. Owing to the recent rally, Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR)’s stock is currently trading down only marginally year-to-date, by 1%. On February 19, the company announced that it managed to successfully raise $1.7 billion in debt through a bond offering. As of December 31, the company had nearly $36 billion of debt on its balance sheet, out of which $21.8 billion was earmarked in escrow accounts for its merger deals. On February 2, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Philip Cusick upgraded Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’, while keeping his price target on it unchanged at $210. Stephen Mandel‘s Lone Pine Capital reduced its stake in the company by 28% to 4.73 million shares during the October-to-December period.

Ratan Capital Group’s conviction in Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST) is paying off in a major way this year. The fund increased its stake in the company by 3% to 2.32 million shares during the fourth quarter, making Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST) its second-largest equity holding going into 2016. Owing to the better-than-expected earnings the company reported for the fourth quarter on February 4, shares of Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST) are currently trading up by over 13.6% year-to-date. While analysts were expecting the company to report EPS of $0.36 on revenue of $1.33 billion, Post Holdings Inc (NYSE:POST) reported EPS of $0.52 on revenue of $1.25 billion. According to analysts, consumer goods stocks like Post Holdings are safe bets for investors at current levels given the decline in the broader market. On February 8, analysts at BMO Capital Markets reiterated their ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock, while increasing their price target on it to $75 from $72. Billionaire John Paulson‘s Paulson & Co also increased its stake in the company by 11% to 4.1 million shares during the December quarter.

The 15% rise in Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN)‘s stock during the fourth quarter coupled with Ratan Capital Group more than doubling its stake in the company to 402,486 shares during the same period propelled Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN) to the top spot in the fund’s equity portfolio as of the end of December. In anticipation of the company’s fourth quarter results, shares of Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN) recently started moving higher and are now trading down by 4.62% year-to-date. However, they have yet to break the $300 mark, which technical analysts feel will act as major resistance for them going forward. For the fourth quarter Allergan plc Ordinary Shares (NYSE:AGN) reported EPS of $3.41 on revenue of $4.20 billion, topping EPS projections of $3.36, while meeting revenue expectations. According to a recently released report by the group Americans for Tax Fairness, if  the merger of Allergan plc Ordinary Shares and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is eventually completed, the latter will be able to avoid paying $35 billion in taxes to the U.S government. However, eminent tax and accounting consultants think that figure is misleading.

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