Guru Chuck Akre (Trades, Portfolio)’s only new buy in the first quarter – American Tower Corp (AMT, Financial) – was sufficient to make that stake the second-most valuable in his portfolio behind MasterCard Inc (MA, Financial).
Akre, the founder, chairman and chief investment officer of Akre Capital Management in Middleburg, Virginia, is a proponent of the "three-legged stool" approach, which calls for examining business models, rates of return and reinvestment opportunities.
Boston-based American Tower owns and operates wireless and broadcast communications sites in several countries. Akre acquired 500,000 shares for an average price of $99.87 per share. The deal had a 1.29% impact on his portfolio.
American Tower has a market cap of $39.91 billion and an enterprise value of $55.37 billion. It has a P/E of 48.2, a Price/Book of 5.4 and a Price/Sales of 9.0. Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio), Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio) and Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of American Tower in their portfolios. Ken Heebner (Trades, Portfolio) sold his stake in the first quarter.
Akre also added to 14 existing stakes in his portfolio, including his stake in MasterCard, a financial services company headquartered in Purchase, New York. He bought 51,157 shares of MasterCard for an average price of $86.75 per share. The deal had a 0.12% impact on his portfolio.
MasterCard has a market cap of $104.5 billion and an enterprise value of $100.23 billion. It has a P/E of 28.2, a Price/Book of 16.7 and a Price/Sales of 11.2. Steve Mandel (Trades, Portfolio), Tom Russo (Trades, Portfolio), Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio), Chase Coleman (Trades, Portfolio), Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio), Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio), Bill Nygren (Trades, Portfolio), Manning & Napier Advisors, Inc, First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio), Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), John Griffin (Trades, Portfolio), Charles de Vaulx (Trades, Portfolio), PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio), Wintergreen Fund (Trades, Portfolio), Westport Asset Management (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio), Tweedy Browne (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Heebner (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio), Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio), Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio), Tom Gayner (Trades, Portfolio), Robert Olstein (Trades, Portfolio), Julian Robertson (Trades, Portfolio), Chris Davis (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Jeff Auxier (Trades, Portfolio), RS Investment Management (Trades, Portfolio) and Lee Ainslie (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of MasterCard in their portfolios. Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), Chuck Royce (Trades, Portfolio) and David Winters (Trades, Portfolio) sold their stakes in MasterCard in the first quarter.
The addition to an existing stake that had the greatest influence on Akre’s portfolio was the purchase of 723,530 shares of Ubiquiti Networks Inc (UBNT, Financial), a San Jose, California-based manufacturer of wireless products, for an average price of $29.59 per share. The acquisition had a 0.52% impact on Akre’s portfolio.
Ubiquiti has a market cap of $2.68 billion and an enterprise value of $2.33 billion. It has a P/E of 15.6, a Price/Book of 6.2 and a Price/Sales of 4.5. Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio), Meridian Funds (Trades, Portfolio), James Barrow (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Louis Moore Bacon (Trades, Portfolio) and Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Ubiquiti in their portfolios.
Ubiquiti is the ninth-largest stake by volume in Akre’s portfolio.
Other stakes to which Akre added in the first quarter include Verisk Analytics Inc (VSK, Financial), Roper Technologies Inc (ROP, Financial) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK.B, Financial).
Divestitures and reductions
Akre reduced his positions in seven companies. The one with the greatest impact on his portfolio was his sale of 1,125,128 shares of Discovery Communications Inc (DISCK, Financial), a Silver Spring, Maryland-based mass media and entertainment company, for an average price of $30.22 per share. The sale had a -1% impact on his portfolio.
Discovery Communications has a market cap of $13.31 billion and an enterprise value of $20 billion. It has a P/E of 19.5, a Price/Book of 3.0 and a Price/Sales of 3.5. Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Frank Sands (Trades, Portfolio), Columbia Wanger (Trades, Portfolio), Arnold Van Den Berg (Trades, Portfolio), Murray Stahl (Trades, Portfolio), Robert Olstein (Trades, Portfolio), Tom Gayner (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) and Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Discovery in their portfolios. Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio), Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio) and Jeff Auxier (Trades, Portfolio) sold their stakes in the first quarter.
Akre also reduced his positions in LPL Financial Holdings Inc (LPLA, Financial), Live Nation Entertainment Inc (LYV, Financial), MarkWest Energy Partners LP (MWE, Financial), CSX Corp (CSX, Financial), Williams Companies Inc (WMB) and Annaly Capital Management Inc (NLY).
Akre sold only one existing stake in the first quarter – his 50,761 shares of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc (HIG), the 12th-largest property and casualty company in the United States – for an average price of $40.99 per share. The sale had a -0.056% impact on Akre’s portfolio.
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