David Tepper‘s Appaloosa Management has an outstanding track record, providing great returns. In its latest 13F filing, Appaloosa disclosed a diversified equity portfolio worth $6.79 million, down from $7.15 billion in the previous quarter. The fund has initiated four new positions during the third quarter and we will look at the first three, which are the largest in terms of value. The stocks that we will cover in this article are NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI), Lorillard Inc. (NYSE:LO), and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA).
NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) is a $19 billion semiconductors company, which gained over 60% year-to-date, being one of the front-runners of the industry and outperforming the industry average of around 20%. Appaloosa revealed a $173.17 million position in NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI), which contains 2.53 million shares, representing 2.5% of its total equity portfolio value. The company managed to post solid financial results over the previous quarters, which came above the analysts estimates. Another investor that is bullish on NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) is Doug Silverman‘s Senator Investment Group, which added 250,000 shares during the third quarter to 2.25 million shares, valued at $153.97 million.
In Lorillard Inc. (NYSE:LO), Appaloosa revealed ownership of 1.42 million shares, valued at $85.13 million as of the end of September. The manufacturer of cigars and cigarettes gained 24% since the beginning of the year, and analysts still expect that the stock has a bit more room to grow, since the consensus target price for the stock amounts to around $64.00. With a dividend of $0.62, Lorillard Inc. (NYSE:LO) has one of the highest yields in the cigarettes industry, which amounts to 3.9%. The stock also trails one of the highest P/E in the industry, which amounts to 19.80, slightly up versus the industry average of 19.50. Aside from Appaloosa, Daniel Och‘s OZ Management also initiated a stake in Lorillard Inc. (NYSE:LO), which amasses 2.14 million shares, valued at $127.93 million.
In addition, Mr. Tepper has bet on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), the same as other investors. Alibaba has made the list of top 10 most popular stocks among the funds that we track right after it went public. Appaloosa owns 725,000 shares of Alibaba as of the end of September, the stake being valued at $64.42 million. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) is quickly expanding, which explains why investors are bullish on it. Aside from Appaloosa, Alibaba could be found in the equity portfolios of George Soros‘ Soros Fund Management, which owns 4.40 million shares, valued at $390.94 million. A significant stake is held by Andreas Halvorsen‘s Viking Global, which reported ownership of 11.39 million shares in its latest 13F filing. Mr. Halvorsen’s former mentor, Julian Robertson has also added Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) to Tiger Management’s equity portfolio and holds 1.21 million shares as of the end of the third quarter.
A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Tepper attended the Robin Hood Investors Conference, where he recommended shortening the Euro, betting on European Central Bank easing the monetary policy to weaken the currency in order to stimulate the Euro Zone.
Disclosure: none
