Ken Fisher’s Biggest Dividend Stock Buys And His Latest Portfolio

Ken Fisher’s stock purchases and his portfolio overview originally published at long-term-investments.blogspot.com. I often look at the activities of the big players because some of them know what’s hot on the market. One investment guru I would like to introduce here today is Ken Fisher.

Fisher has assets of around $38 billion under management and he owns around 500 stocks of which 45 were completely new in his portfolio.

Because of the huge number of assets he own, the transaction list is very long and none of his deals had a really huge influence to his portfolio. The biggest move on the long side was the purchase of the UBS Fisher ETN “UBS Fisher Enhanced Big Cap Growth ETN”.

From his 20 biggest long transactions pay 12 a dividend.

Ken Fisher is one of the most diversified guy's I’ve ever seen. The biggest portfolio position has a share of 2.7 percent and is reasonable to the Barclays ETN FI Enhanced Global High Yield ETN. Fisher owns 3 exchange traded funds in his top 20 positions with a total weighting of around 7.1 percent.

Beside ETFs, Fisher loves the Technology sector and bets on financial services stocks. All three categories represent around 47.4 percent of his assets.

Fisher reduced technology, energy and basic material stocks within the recent quarter. On the other side, he increased stocks from the financial services sector, healthcare and defensive consumer goods sector.

Bruce Berkowitz’s Latest Stock Buys And His Full Portfolio Holdings

Bruce Berkowitz’s Fund Portfolio Strategies originally published at long-term-investments.blogspot.com. Bruce Berkowitz is also a well known guru investor. He is a hedge fund manager who cares about $7.69 billion in his asset management vehicle Fairholme Capital Management.

Within the recent quarter, Bruce made nine asset transactions of which six pay dividends. Four of the stock moves are attributable to the long side and five are on the short side.

In total, Bruce owns now only 13 share positions of which two were completely new (Lincoln National and Hartford Financial). In addition, he sold-out three stocks within the recent quarter. 

Financial stocks dominate his asset strategy. Around 68 percent of his total assets have a relationship to the financial sector.

The biggest position is his portfolio is reasonable to the insurer, AIG who represents around 50 percent of his full portfolio.

Nothing changed much in sum. Bruce made no big changes within the recent quarter. The highest trade impact on the long side had the 4.53 percent position increase of Sears Holdings.

Is An ‘Activist Mutual Fund’ A Smart Investment?

The following article was written by our guest author Insider Monkey. At Insider Monkey, we use a number of techniques to track investment activity of hedge funds and other notable investors. Our research has shown that the most popular small cap stocks among hedge funds, as determined by quarterly 13F filings, earn an average excess return of 18 percentage points per year (discover the details of our small-cap strategy). Last summer, we put this theory into practice by publishing a portfolio of the most popular small caps and since inception this portfolio has beaten the S&P 500 by 29 percentage points.

The activist

Investors can also receive more up-to-date information about what hedge fund managers are doing through 13D and 13G filings. 13Ds are also known as activist filings—when a hedge fund such as billionaire Carl Icahn’s Icahn Capital or billionaire Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square files a 13D as opposed to a 13G, it usually signals that it intends to push management to make changes at the company either privately or publicly. While activist campaigns do not always work, often these managers are successful in getting a company to sell itself, spin out a non-core business unit, return more cash to shareholders, or take other actions that increase shareholder value.

They also may benefit from improvements in general market conditions that push up the stock price, as with any other hedge fund investment. The combination of these factors sometimes results in high average returns: Icahn, for example, tends to have done well with his 13D filings in the past couple of years.

Meet one 13D Activist Fund

Northern Lights Distributors, LLC has launched a long-only fund (the 13D Activist Fund) whose managers select stocks from the universe of activist positions. While the fund has a limited performance history, it has outperformed the S&P 500 year to date with a return of 26% compared to the index’s total return of 18%.

The 13D Activist Fund also notes that third-party academic research shows superior performance for activist targets and this is not entirely captured by a pop in the stock price immediately following the announcement. For example, “a further significant increase in share price” occurs after the filing date according to one study on the returns from activism.

To capitalize on this finding, the 13D Activist Fund specifically seeks to take positions in activist targets from a variety of managers, targeting “20 to 40” holdings. For purposes of comparison, Icahn’s most recent 13F only included a total of 19 positions, and some of these were in smaller-cap stocks (the 13D Activist Fund targets stocks with market capitalizations of at least $1 billion) or in companies where he was not making activist moves.

As a result, by construction its portfolio should incorporate ideas from several activists rather than mimicking any particular fund’s portfolio. The fund managers acknowledge that there is little fundamental analysis involved in their strategy; they prefer to defer on that point and analyze the activist investor’s record directly in determining the likelihood of positive returns.

To do this, they analyze both the overall track record of an activist as well as his success in a particular industry or sector; activists who have historically struggled in tech investments might be ignored if they file a 13D on a tech stock. They also evaluate the activist’s plans for creating change at the company. Different activist techniques might be judged more or less likely to succeed.

Recent data

Its most recent publicly disclosed data shows that the 13D Activist Fund’s three largest holdings were Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK), where Blue Harbour Group has been engaged in an activist strategy for about three years; Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), one of the top holdings of Jeffrey Ubben’s ValueAct Capital, and Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (USA) (NYSE:CP), which has more than doubled in the last two years as Ackman has succeeded in transforming the railroad.

Motorola Solutions Inc (NYSE:MSI), another ValueAct holding, and Ackman favorite BEAM Inc (NYSE:BEAM) rounded out the fund’s top five picks. Looking at the rest of its top holdings, it appears that other activists the fund tracks include billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, Keith Meister’s Corvex Capital, and Richard McGuire’s Marcato Capital Management.

Final thoughts

Given the combination of the fund’s performance and the academic research supporting the concept of imitating activists, the basic concept involved seems to be a good one particularly for investors who are looking for assets with a low correlation to the overall market.

The question is which of the following would be the best way for an interested investor to participate: buy into the fund and pay its fees (likely the only way for most investors to access the entire portfolio of activist opportunities), watch for its public reports and directly buy some of the stocks the managers choose (which has a considerable delay), or follow 13Ds oneself and directly research these for attractive single-stock investments.

Disclosure: I own no shares of any stocks mentioned in this article.

100 Most Bought Stocks By Investment Gurus

100 most bought stocks by investment professionals originally published on Dividend Yield – Stock, Capital, Investment. Big investors are sometimes better informed about the issues of a company. They know where to find low hanging fruits and to make profits. It could make sense for us normal investors to observe the activities from the big investors in order to get a feeling about the good and bad companies, stocks that investors love and hate.

Each month, I develop a little screen about the largest stock buys from 49 super investors. I analyze how often a stock was bought over the recent six months and ranked them in my 100 best guru buy list. All super gurus combined bought 631 stocks within the recent half year; they seem to be more bullish.

In my view, it’s a good tool to look at the activities of the guru investors in the market because they have huge amounts of capital and if they invest combined, they can change the market very easy. Their attitude to stocks is also lightning the way to return, not always but sometimes because the media notices the portfolio changes of the hedge fund managers and create additional publicity.

Technology is still the place to be for the investment guru’s. The top three results from the guru 100 best buy list are all tech stocks: Oracle, Apple and Microsoft.

…and investors bet more on dividends: Now, 80 percent of the equities they bought pay a dividend. But most of them are low yielding stocks, around 11 stocks yielding over 3 percent. Investment guru’s still look for growth and don’t seek for high cash compensation.

David Einhorn's Latest Portfolio Dividend Stock Changes | Greenlight Capital

Latest stock purchases and sales from David Einhorn, Greenlight Capital originally published at long-term-investments.blogspot.com. David Einhorn has around USD 5.3 billion in assets under management in his asset management company Greenlight Capital. Last Quarter he made 28 transactions and bought 7 new stakes. His portfolio has only 30 stock holdings.

In this article I would like to present you the best dividend stocks, bought and sold by David Einhorn. From his nine stock and ETF purchases pay six a dividend. All of the latest dividend buys from David Einhorn yielding between .13 percent and 1.92 percent. David is no long-term dividend player. He wants a quick total return. The most important buys were ING US, Liberty Global and Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF.

On the short side, he reduced or sold out 19 stocks. 15 of them pay a dividend. The biggest impact had Cigna, Seagate Technology and Microsoft with around 3 percent impact to his portfolio.

Apple remains the biggest stock holding bet. The stake has a value of around one billion dollar. The second biggest position of David Einhorn is the car company General Motors which represents around 10.7 percent of his total portfolio. The third biggest company is the technology stock Marvell with a 9.7 percent share. Both are worth over USD 500 million.

The Latest Big Dividend Stock Buys From James Barrow

James Barrow’s latest dividend stock buys and his portfolio originally published at long-term-investments.blogspot.com. 

James Barrow is a relatively unknown fund managers but he has big influence on Wall-Street. His assets under management exceeded the 55 billion mark in his investment firm Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss. This money was spread on 159 stocks of which 7 were completely new. James follows a value-oriented investment strategy.

James is a real dividend large cap lover. Nearly all of his latest 20 big stock acquisitions pay dividends. In addition, James is a much diversified guy. None of his stakes is extremely overweighed. The biggest position is the tobacco company Philip Morris and has a portfolio share of 3.5 percent while the 10th biggest stock holding weights only at 1.8 percent.

Compared to other fund managers, his performance is also weak in the short term. Over the past three years, the excess return was only 3.3 percent in total. His five-year advance is a bit better with 14 percent excess gain but over 10 years, his performance is 27.8 percent weaker than the S&P 500. Over a very long period of 15 years, he beat the market by 49.4 percent excess gain.

What Super Investors Like: 100 Most Bought Stocks By Investment Gurus

100 most bought stocks by investment professionals originally published on Dividend Yield – Stock, Capital, Investment. Super investors are such with billions in assets under management. If they jump on a stock, it’s possible that something changes with the company or even the stock price. Mostly it’s a good sign when a big investor expresses his trust to the company. The media notices the stock buy and other investors will follow.

Today I like to produce a little screen of the biggest stock buys from 49 super investors. I analyzed how often a stock were bought over the recent six months and ranked them in my 100 best guru buy list. All super gurus combined bought 647 stocks within the recent half year.

The number one stock above all guru stock buys was Microsoft. The company was bought by 18 investment gurus who discovered better future growth perspectives of the hidden software giant. Technology and financials are still the place to be.

72 stocks from the list pay dividends. Investment gurus don’t care about the dividend. They are more likely interested in long-term capital gains. Only 38 percent of the top 100 stocks yielding above 2 percent.

Carl Icahn’s Latest Dividend Stock Buys And His Biggest Portfolio Holdings

Carl Icahn’s recent stock buys and largest stock holdings as of Q1/2013 originally published at "long-term-investments.blogspot.com". Carl Icahn is a well known investor. He serves around USD 16.9 billion in his asset management company Icahn Capital Management LP. His asset allocation is very focused on single stocks. In total he has only 19 stock holdings of which four are new. Within the recent quarter, Icahn bought only five companies. He’s a guy who wants control and he wants to change something. In of his portfolio holdings he has a significant influence with an ownership of more than 10 percent of the outstanding capital.

From his 13 latest stock buys pay only seven dividends. Eight of them have a current buy or better rating by brokerage analysts.

Bruce Berkowitz Biggest Dividend Stock Buys

The latest dividend stock buys from Bruce Berkowitz and his biggest portfolio holdings originally published at "long-term-investments.blogspot.com". Bruce Berkowitz is a successful asset manager. He manages around USD 7.9 billion in assets in his management company Fairholme Capital Management. Within the recent quarter, Bruce had only 21 stocks of which 3 are new.

Today I like to show you the top stock holdings from Bruce Berkowitz as well as his latest and most influential dividend stock buys.

His biggest acquisition was Chesapeake Energy. The company was completely new in his portfolio and had an impact of 3.5 percent. The current yield of CHK is 1.66 percent. Only seven of his 20 biggest stock acquisitions pay dividends. Berkowitz is no classical dividend investors. He loves the financial sector. Around 64.3 percent of his portfolio stock holdings have a relationship to financials.

25 Years Of Ken Fisher - Forbes Reviews The Making Of The Market Guru

Ken Fisher is founder and CEO of Fisher Investments, an independent money management firm managing over $35 billion (as of Dec. 31/09) for individuals and institutions. And, Fisher has written the monthly "Portfolio Strategy" column for Forbes magazine for the last twenty-five years—since 1984—making him, so far, the fourth longest-running columnist in the magazine’s history. During this time, he’s seen everything from the stock market crash of 1987 and the great bull markets of the 1980s and 1990s to the Tech bubble of 2000 and the global market meltdown of 2008.

Now, with The Making of a Market Guru, you’ll gain an insightful look at Fisher’s prolific career over the years and discover the high-profile market calls he’s made so far in these monthly columns. At times engaging and timely, at others revealing and informative, this book is a sweeping look at a recent and eventful slice of stock market history. You’ll read about what’s changed, but you’ll be more amazed by what hasn’t. And you’ll see investing wisdom that still applies, now and for the foreseeable future, from a quarter-century of Fisher’s concise and witty market wisdom.

Preceding Fisher’s columns for each year are a few pages of commentary—putting them in historic context, pointing out areas that are still salient, and others where Fisher’s perspective has changed over the years—highlighting key points that deserve extra attention.

Chapter by chapter, this book offers practical investment advice from a leading market voice, while:

• Looking at Fisher’s market analysis over the years and providing an industry insider’s view of major, and not-so-major, market events
• Examining how Fisher called three of the last four bear markets
• Showing that what many commonly think impacts markets doesn’t—and some very surprising things that do impact markets that few are aware of.
• And much more

The more things change, the more they stay the same—at least when it comes to investing. And seeing history through the eyes of a market guru can help improve your overall investment endeavors today. If you take the time to read this unique, historic compilation, you’ll be taking your first steps to understanding how to become your own market guru.

Read more here: The Making of a Market Guru: Forbes Presents 25 Years of Ken Fisher

George Soros’s Biggest Dividend Stock Buys As Of Q1/2013

The biggest dividend stocks buys from George Soros originally published at "long-term-investments.blogspot.com". George Soros is well known within the financial industry. He is a hedge fund manager who serves around $8.56 billion in 207 stocks. Last quarter, he added 74 new companies. It’s very interesting to see how big investors act because if they move, the market changes. The amounts are really big when they decide to place a 1 percent stake.

Today I like to look at the biggest dividend stock buys from George Soros. George is a real speculator. His 20 biggest changes had an impact to his portfolio between 0.34 percent and 1.3 percent. Only eight of his 20 biggest stock buys pay dividends.

In total, George Soros has a much diversified fund. His biggest position, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF – Put, has a portfolio weighting of 4.8 percent. The second biggest position is the oil & gas company Pioneer Natural Resources with a 3.4 percent share.

Top 100 Guru Buy List | Most Bought Stocks By Popular Investors

100 most bought stocks by investment gurus originally published on Dividend Yield – Stock, Capital, Investment. Dividend counts also for professional investment gurus. Those are asset or fund managers with big amounts of cash under management and a well known profile within the financial community. They all have one thing in common: The average return beats the market and if they invest, the market follows.

Today I make like every month a screen of the biggest stock buys from 49 super investors over the recent six months and ranked them in my 100 best guru buy list. They all combined bought 517 stocks within the recent half year.

The number one stock above all guru buys was Microsoft. The company is followed by the internet search provider Google who was bought by 11 investment gurus. Microsoft had 15 big investors on their side. Financial and technology stocks are still very popular.

74 stocks from the list pay dividends compared to 69 last month. It’s a shift to dividend stocks. Are they look more stability and cash compensation? 65 have a buy or better recommendation.

100 Most Sold Stocks By Famous Investment Gurus

Stocks with recent short activities by investment professionals originally published at Dividend Yield – Stock, Capital, Investment. 

Recently, I published a list of the 100 most bought stocks by investment gurus. Some of my readers liked the idea to see what stock purchases professional investors made. Today I like to expand this method by stocks which were sold mostly by investment gurus.

Linked is a detailed list of the 100 most sold stocks by 49 super investors. They all sold combined 528 different stocks within the past half-year.

Dell and Lowe’s were the top choices. Eight investment gurus sold the computer manufacturer and six the home improvement store chain.

100 Guru Stock Buy List | The Most Bought Stocks

100 most bought stocks by investment professionals originally published on Dividend Yield – Stock, Capital, Investment. Covering investment professionals does make sense to get inspired. I look at Warren Buffett’s investment choices. Guru stock buys are only one point of hundreds in the selection process of an investment target.

Investment gurus are asset or fund managers with big amounts of cash under management. They became popular by big returns and spectacular investment strategies. I also talk about investors like George Soros. They all have one thing in common: The average return beats the market and if they invest, the market follows.

Today I create a screen of the biggest stock buys from 49 super investors over the recent six months and rank them in my 100 best guru buy list. They all combined bought 571 stocks within the recent half year.

The most wanted stock was Berkshire Hathaway. The company was bought by 14 investment professionals over the recent six months. Microsoft and AIG were also very popular with 13 and 12 guru buys.

69 stocks from the list pay dividends and 68 have a buy or better recommendation.

Carl Icahn’s Biggest Dividend Stock Holdings

Largest dividend stock positions by Carl Icahn originally published at "long-term-investments.blogspot.com". Super investors made a great return in the past and they got very rich. 

Not all started to make money with little stock trading. Some of them made big deals with huge loans. They took the risk and won the game.

Carl Icahn is such a person. He is an activist with $12 billion market value of his Icahn Capital Management vehicle. Herbalife, Transocean or Dell, Icahn is still named as investor who stirs up the pastry.

Today I like to look at the biggest dividend positions of Carl Icahn as of Q4/2012. His full portfolio has only 15 companies, which is not much and looks very undiversified. Warren Buffett still has more stocks in his portfolio and he is also no big asset gatherer. 

Icahn is no dividend lover; he has only four dividend stocks. His biggest dividend machine is the own property management company, Icahn Enterprises. IEP pays a 7.07 percent yield.

100 Most Bought Stocks By Popular Investment Gurus

100 most bought stocks by investment professionals originally published on Dividend Yield – Stock, Capital, Investment. 

I personally follow the activities from Warren Buffett. He is a highly trusted investor with a proven long-term track record. I also look at Carl Ichan’s (estimated net worth of USD 20 billion) stock purchases because he is one younger investor who can replace Warren Buffett's presence one day. 

Both have a different view on the capital market but they are very successful in the way how they act. These two guys are only an example of people who have build a great career on Wall-Street and developed to a top investment guru.

Investment gurus are asset or fund managers with big amounts of cash under management. They became popular by big returns and spectacular investment strategies. I also talk about investors like George Soros. They all have one thing in common: The average return beats the market and if they invest, the market follows.

In order to find the hottest stocks at the investment premier league, I made a screen of the biggest stock buys from 49 super investors over the recent six months and ranked them in my 100 best guru buy list. They all combined bought 569 stocks within the recent half year.

The top stock picks are now Berkshire Hathaway and AIG. Berkshire was bought by 14 gurus and AIG stakes were increased by 12 investors. Technology dividend stocks and insurers are hot picks within the guru scene. 71 of the top 100 guru stock buys pay dividends.

100 Most Sold Stocks By Famous Investment Gurus

Stocks with recent short activities by investment professionals originally published at Dividend Yield – Stock, Capital, Investment. Sometimes it’s good to know what others do. Maybe they know something what you haven’t seen or maybe you get some new ideas about where they are wrong in order to bet against them.

Investment gurus are asset or fund managers with big amounts of cash under management. They became popular by big returns and spectacular investment strategies. I talk about investors like George Soros and Warren Buffett. They all have one thing in common: The average return beats the market and if they invest, the market follows.

Recently, I made a screen of the 100 most loved stocks from 49 super investors over the recent six month. Now I like to highlight the biggest stock sells from 49 super investors over the recent six months and ranked them in my 100 most guru sells list. They all sold in total 530 different stocks within the past half-year.

The most sold stocks are Microsoft (MSFT), AIG and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B). As you might think, insurers are not very popular. Maybe the long-term perspectives in a low interest environment or the bond bubble make investors anxious.

100 Top Stocks Bought By Major Investment Gurus

100 most bought stocks by investment professionals originally published on Dividend Yield – Stock, Capital, Investment. I often take a look at the activities of well-known investment guru’s. Sure, hedge fund managers and activists are active investors who want to change something on the business model in order to push the current stock price. Ackman or Einhorn are such persons. I don’t follow them in detail but they are part of the screening results and due to their big influence, it makes sense to look at what they do. 

Investment gurus are asset or fund managers with big amounts of cash under management. They became popular by big returns and spectacular investment strategies. I talk about investors like George Soros and Warren Buffett. They all have one thing in common: The average return beats the market and if they invest, the market follows.

I always screen picks from Warren Buffett. He has a solid investment decision process and selects stocks I also like. Sometimes he gives me new ideas about long-term investments or about growth opportunities which I haven’t considered for the time being.  

In order to find the hottest stocks at the investment premier league, I made a screen of the biggest stock buys from 49 super investors over the recent six month and ranked them in my 100 best guru buy list. They all combined bought 449 stocks within the past half year.

The top stocks are now Microsoft and AIG International. Microsoft was purchased by 9 stock market professionals and AIG by 8. Exactly 60 percent of the top ten buys have a relationship to the technology sector. Investors still love this field because of the high growth potential and strong cash flows. But technology stocks are no big dividend payer.

100 Most Sold Stocks By Famous Investment Gurus

Stocks with recent short activities by investment professionals originally published at Dividend Yield – Stock, Capital, Investment. Investment gurus are asset or fund managers with big amounts of cash under management. They became popular by big returns and spectacular investment strategies. I talk about investors like George Soros and Warren Buffett. They all have one thing in common: The average return beats the market and if they invest, the market follows.

I made a screen of the biggest stock sells from 49 super investors over the recent six month and ranked them in my 100 best guru sells list. They all sold in total 630 different stocks within the past half-year.

The top stocks are Wal-Mart (WMT), Microsoft (MSFT) and Google (GOOG).

100 Most Attractive Stocks Bought By Popular Investment Gurus

Stocks With Recent Engagements By Investment Professionals Researched By Dividend Yield – Stock, Capital, Investment. Investment gurus are asset or fund managers with big amounts of cash under management. They became popular by big returns and spectacular investment strategies. I talk about investors like George Soros and Warren Buffett. They all have one thing in common: The average return beats the market and if they invest, the market follows.

I made a screen of the biggest stock buys from 49 super investors over the recent six month and ranked them in my 100 best guru buy list. They all bought 594 stocks within the past half year.

The top stocks are now Berkshire Hathaway and Google. Berkshire was bought by 16 stock market professionals and Google by 15. Half of the top ten buys came from the technology sector. Investors still love this field because of the high growth potential and strong cash flows. But technology stocks are no big dividend payer. That’s why I did not invest much of my private wealth in technology stocks. That’s a bad strategy because if you want to have growth, the sector is one of the safest bets for the time being.