Israel Englander‘s Millennium Management has dramatically increased its stake in five holdings during the fourth quarter, according to its recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Let’s take a look at each of them, with the companies being Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD), Cameron International Corporation (NYSE:CAM), McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE:XEL).
Millenium Management was founded by Englander in 1989 with about $35 million in seed capital. A rough start didn’t stop the fund from amassing regulatory assets worth about $156.67 billion as of the end of 2014. The market value of its portfolio stood at $47.19 billion at the end of the year, a considerable increase from the $39.53 billion it held at the start of the fourth quarter. Nearly 21.4% of its holding are in the finance sector, followed by healthcare which forms about 15.7% of the portfolio value. The energy sector accounts for 14.7% of the fund’s market value.
Englander increased his stake in Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) by a massive 1,210% during the last quarter. The position now comprises 1.92 million shares valued at $286.50 million and forms 0.6% of the fund’s portfolio value. The oil and gas exploration and development company has also sparked the interest of other fund managers including Citadel Investment Group’s Ken Griffin and John H. Scully of SPO Advisory Corp. Griffin increased his stake in the company by a staggering 2,277% and owned 1.24 million shares valued at $184.49 million at the end of the quarter. Scully also increased his fund’s exposure in the company by 25%. The position comprising 6.85 million shares was valued at $1.02 billion.
Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD)’s Earnings per Share (EPS) of $0.80 missed estimates by $0.15 for the fourth quarter. Although up 4.7% year-to-date, Pioneer’s stock is down about 20% over the last 52 weeks; the underlying reason for these developments being the surging oil inventories and a consequent dip in the commodity’s price, which do however make this stock an attractive long-term investment.
Cameron International Corporation (NYSE:CAM) was another company that Englander was extremely bullish about. Millennium increased its stake by a whopping 1,412%. The fund had 5.69 million shares with an end-of-year market value of $283.99 million to its name. The position constitutes 0.6% of Millenium’s portfolio value.
Among other investors who significantly increased their stakes in the provider of flow equipment products for the oil and gas industry was D E Shaw. The fund owned 1.65 million shares valued at $82.49 million after a 103% increase to the position during the fourth quarter. The $9.33 billion market cap company is currently trading at a forward earnings multiple of 16.38. The stock is down nearly 6% year-to-date.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD)’s stake also rose by a hefty 236% in Millennium’s portfolio. Comprising 0.52% of the fund’s portfolio value, the share count stood at 2.63 million and had a market value of $246.38 million. The ailing fast food company saw its stock price rise by 6.3% year-to-date, although McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD)’s fourth quarter EPS of $1.13 was less than the estimated $1.22. Despite declining same-store sales, the company did manage to break a long streak of negative comparable restaurant sales in December.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s stake in Millenium’s portfolio rose by 109%, another strong bullish move by Englander. He had 3.08 million shares valued at $240.65 million to his name by the end of the calendar year. The position was worth some 0.5% of the fund’s portfolio value. Stephen Mandel of Lone Pine Capital also gave the social media company a considerable boost in his portfolio. He increased the exposure of his fund to the company by 57% during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital had 13.50 million shares valued at $1.05 billion in its possession. In its fourth quarter earnings release, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s EPS of $0.54 beat estimates of $0.49. The social media platform now has nearly 1.39 billion monthly active users.
Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE:XEL) also received some special bullish treatment by Englander, who increased his position in the public utility holding company by 669%. A total of 6.10 million shares with a market value of $219.39 were sitting in the fund’s portfolio by the end of the fourth quarter. Ken Griffin made a similar move for Citadel too, as he bumped the fund’s stake in Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE:XEL) by a sizable 586%. As of 2014 year’s end he owned nearly 514,900 shares valued at $18.49 million.
The stock price of the company is nearly flat year-to-date. The company’s fourth quarter EPS of $0.39 beat estimates by $0.05, while the revenues of $2.93 billion were also $310 million higher than expected.
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