As chief investment officer of Passport Capital, the San Francisco hedge fund he founded in 2000, much of guru John Burbank (Trades, Portfolio)’s success is due to a knack for anticipating trends – social, economic, political – that can affect investments.
His emphasis in the third quarter seemed to be primarily on adding new holdings to his portfolio.
In the third quarter, Burbank bought stock in 140 companies that are new to his portfolio. His purchase of 2,164,613 shares of Dollar General Corp (DG, Financial), a Tennessee-based chain of variety stores, for an average price of $59.96 had the greatest impact on his portfolio – 1.9%.
Burbank also bought 2,887,612 shares of Liberty Global PLC (LBTYK, Financial), a London-based telecommunications and television company, for an average price of $41.64 per share. That transaction had a 1.7% impact on his portfolio.
None of the other transactions that brought new holdings to his portfolio had an impact of greater than 0.74%.
Among the holdings that are new to Burbank’s portfolio are Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA, Financial), Alcoa Inc (AAPRB, Financial), Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO, Financial), Ralph Lauren Corp (RL, Financial), Monsanto Co (MON, Financial), Tempur Sealy International Inc (TPX, Financial), Coca-Cola Co (KO, Financial), eBay Inc (EBAY, Financial), Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA (BUD, Financial) and Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS, Financial).
Burbank added to his existing stakes in 33 companies in the third quarter. His purchase of 6,918,865 shares of Yahoo! (YHOO), an internet corporation based in California, for an average price of $37.53 had an impact on his portfolio of 3.98%.
His purchase of 1,152,321 shares of Schlumberger NV (SLB), a Houston-based oilfield services company, for an average price of $109.05 per share had a 1.67% impact on his portfolio.
Burbank acquired 831,200 shares of Facebook (FB), a California-based social networking company, for an average price of $73.36 per share had a 0.95% impact on his portfolio.
The acquisition of 1,538,668 shares of Liberty Media Corporation (LMCK), a Colorado-based mass media company, for an average price of $35.73 had a 0.91% impact on his portfolio.
The remaining expansions of his existing holdings had impacts of 0.82% or less on his portfolio. Among those holdings are stocks in Dow Chemical Co (DOW), Stanley Black & Decker Inc (SWK), Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (FOX), Priceline Group Inc (PCLN), General Dynamics Corp (GD) and Phillips 66 (PSX).
Divestitures and reductions
Burbank sold all of his holdings in 75 companies. Among them are HHGregg Inc (HGG), Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA), Scholastic Corp (SCHL), Pilgrims Pride Corp (PPC), Time Warner Inc (TWX), MGM Resorts International (MGM), Jack In The Box Inc (JACK), A H Belo Corp (AHC) and Xerox Corporation (XRX).
He reduced his holdings in 34 companies. Among those companies are Harte-Hanks Inc (HHS), Frontier Communications Corp (FTR), Stoneridge Inc (SRI), Charter Communications Inc (CHTR), Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC), McGraw Hill Financial Inc (MHFI), Starbucks Corp (SBUX), Yum! Brands Inc (YUM) and Netflix Inc (NFLX).
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