Wally Weitz, of Weitz Investment Management, runs the fund with a simple philosophy: “Own a group of strong businesses purchased at deeply discounted stock prices.” This common-sense approach, combined with Wally’s market instinct and skills in value investing, has helped the Weitz funds grow over the years.
Wally Weitz said in his Q3 letter to shareholders, “We own shares in strong companies that have historically coped well with changing economic conditions and we trust them to navigate in turbulent times. We also hold substantial cash reserves in our funds and look forward to redeploying them, but we will be patient. Markets move on their own schedules and our goal is to be opportunistic on your behalf.”
During the third quarter, according to its 13F filing, Weitz Investment Inc closed out positions in two stocks, initiated new investments in one stock, enhanced positions in 34 stocks and trimmed holdings in 13 stocks.
Weitz new investment
The fund purchased 13,000 ADRs of Anheuser Busch Inbev SA (ADR) (NYSE:BUD) worth $1.29M in terms of market value.
Weitz closed investments
The fund sold out in full its holdings of 125,000 shares in Mosaic Co(NYSE:MOS) as well as its 1,500,000 shares in SandRidge Energy Inc.(NYSE:SD).
Weitz increased positions
The fund added significantly to its existing holdings in ACI Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ:ACIW), (+143,844 shares), FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:FCN) (+226,300 shares), ProShares Short 20+ Year Treasury ETF (NYSEARCA:TBF) (+180,000 shares), World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE:INT) (+260,000 shares), TransDigm Group Incorporated (NYSE:TDG) (+203,405 shares) and Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) (+161,360 shares).
Weitz reduced holdings
Some stocks in which the fund reduced holdings were Omnicare, Inc. (NYSE:OCR) (-633,220 shares), Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PBH) (-100,000 shares), ITT Educational Services, Inc. (NYSE:ESI) (-7,490 shares), Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) (-100,300 shares), Sapient Corporation (NASDAQ:SAPE) (-159,000 shares, DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV) (-245,280 shares) and FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLIR) (-145,510 shares).
Weitz holdings of note
The fund’s top five holdings in terms of market value as a percentage of portfolio were Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) (TSE:VRX) (8.02%), Aon plc Class A Ordinary Shares (UK) (NYSE:AON) (5.38%), Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) (4.77%), DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV) (4.45%) and Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) (4.42%).
The aggregate market value of the fund as on September 30, 2013, was $2.66B.
