Related Tickers: Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE:ADS), Visa Inc (NYSE:V), Equinix Inc (NASDAQ:EQIX), Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC), Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB)
With roughly $2.5bn in assets under management, Navellier & Associates is a team of about twelve investment professionals that use quantitative and fundamental analysis to employ its investors’ capital. Headed up by market veteran and educator Louis Navellier, the fund recently released its 13F filing for Q1 2013, outlining its latest holdings and market moves. We have used these filings to discern a small-cap strategy that has returned 37% to investors since its debut in September 2013 (read more about it here). Let’s take a look at Navellier’s top five equity holdings as indicated by its 13F.
Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE:ADS) takes the number one spot in the hedge fund’s portfolio, receiving an $82mm commitment from Navellier and his team. The Texas-based marketing solutions provider reported earnings on the eighteenth of April, delivering a small beat, managing to keep its streak of consistently surprising analysts to the positive. ADS recent business pairings with Facebook and other data marketers have helped to propel the stock price up almost 15% year-to-date and up nearly 28% from a year ago. Billionaire Ken Griffin of Citadel Investment Group has almost $70mm devoted to Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE:ADS) (read about his fund’s top stocks here).
Visa Inc (NYSE:V) nears the top of Navellier’s portfolio, commanding a $77mm, 450,000 share investment from the hedge fund. The payment giant has fallen slightly out of fashion with Wall Street lately, as analysts from firms like Sterne Agee, BNP Paribas, and Argus have all rated the stock Neutral or Hold since the beginning of March. Increased competition in the sector seems to be the drive for the tepid ratings. Visa Inc (NYSE:V) recently strengthened its e-commerce checkout business by adding online retail 
Credit: Visa Inc (NYSE:V)
Equinix Inc (NASDAQ:EQIX) is another business data/IT solutions provider in Navellier’s top five; EQIX, however, focuses on data centers, colocation, and cloud services. Equinix started last month by refinancing $1.5bn worth of notes after being upgraded to BB by the S&P. FBN Securities and Stephens were soon to follow with Outperform and Overweight ratings, respectively. The company reported Q1 earnings on the 24th of this month, delivering misses in both EPS and revenue. Billionaire Stephen Mandel of Lone Pine Capital keeps nearly 2.8mm shares in his portfolio (view the fund’s top five picks here).
Where else has Navellier decided to allocate its capital?
Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC) is the only oil and gas company that made it on our list. The refiner’s stock has seen explosive growth in the last year, netting investors over 100% since this time 52 weeks ago. MPC is up 31% so far in 2013, although the sell-side believes some overheating has occurred. In mid-April, Deutsche Bank kept its Hold rating on MPC but lowered its price target, citing weak margins for gasoline production going forward. D. E. Shaw claims to own about 3.6mm shares of Marathon Petroleum Corp (NYSE:MPC) according to its 13F (see the fund’s top stocks here).
Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) is a biotech company that brings up the bottom of our screen; Navellier & Associates owns about 367,000 shares of the stock according to its Q1 2013 filing. BIIB has seen huge support from Wall Street this year, receiving upgrades to Buy from the likes of Citi, Canaccord, and BofA/Merrill Lynch. Even Standard & Poor’s bumped up its corporate credit rating of BIIB to A-, mentioning that it has a stable outlook on the company. Biogen recently reported earnings on the 25th of April, issuing a huge surprise that was almost 25% north of analysts’ expectations. Billionaire Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies has $244mm devoted to Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) (take a look at his favorite stocks here).
Disclosure: I do not own shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.
