Ray Dalio’s 5 Monster Moves in Q1: Disney, McDonald’s, Alphabet, Amazon, Coca-Cola

If the monitoring of the latest hedge fund moves is of any importance to a retail investor (and we believe that it is), then Ray Dalio‘s Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund with more than $150 billion in assets under management, deserves special attention. After a thorough look through the firm’s latest 13F filing, which revealed that it still has several large bets on ETFs, including emerging markets ETFs, we pinpointed the five biggest moves made during the first quarter by the billionaire’s firm. Without further ado, let’s check out five prominent stocks that Mr. Dalio bought or sold during the first quarter.

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Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

 – Shares Owned by Bridgewater Associates (as of March 31): 0

 – Value of Holding (as of March 31): 0

Amazon has enjoyed a torrid run since the start of 2015, gaining about 128% in value, which may have prompted Bridgewater to take profits and move on. After trimming its Amazon stake by 57% during the fourth quarter, it sold out of the remaining 8,206 shares during the first quarter. According to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is scheduled to make its first foray into perishable food in the coming weeks, with a range of products including nuts, spices, tea, coffee, baby food, and vitamins. The company seems to have an insatiable appetite to enter as many markets as it can, beyond just being an industry leader in the cloud and e-commerce industries. Alex Snow‘s Lansdowne Partners hiked its stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by 19% during the March quarter to 2.2 million shares.

The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO)

 – Shares Owned by Bridgewater Associates (as of March 31): 0

 – Value of Holding (as of March 31): 0

Another holding that Bridgewater wiped from its equity portfolio during the first three months of the year was that of the $194 billion beverage giant. The fund held about 298,000 shares of The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) at the end of last year. As a consumer staples stock, Coca Cola shares have shown low volatility in the past and according to Barclays’ Jonathan Glionna, are still cheap, whereas other names in the sector continue to climb to higher earnings multiples. In its financial results for the first quarter, The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO) delivered revenue which was in-line with expectations, while earnings exceeded estimates. According to CEO Kent Mukhtar, the company seems to be making good progress on the five-point transition plan that he announced about a year-and-a-half ago, with the goal of reinvigorating growth and increasing profitability. Yacktman Asset Management, which is led by Donald Yacktman, reduced its Coca-Cola holding by 9% during the first quarter to 18.29 million shares.

On the next page we discuss three major stocks that Mr. Dalio added to his fund’s portfolio in the first quarter.