Steve Mandel was apparently a busy guy in Q4 2013 – so busy, in fact, that out of his 55 equity allocations, only four remained unchanged.
Steve Mandel’s New Acquisitions
Steve Mandel did quite a bit of shopping from October through December, purchasing shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Intercontinentalexchange Group Inc (NYSE:ICE), SBA Communications Corporation (NASDAQ:SBCA), McGraw Hill Financial Inc (NYSE:MHFI), Endo Health Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:ENDP), Towers Watson & Co (NYSE:TW) and Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE:LL). In total, these new purchases now account for 12.24% of his fund.
Microsoft is Steve Mandel’s biggest new allocation and fifth largest position overall, now composing 4.1% of his portfolio. This is considered a relatively safe pick, as MSFT continues to deliver strong results, up +34.11% over the past 365 days. As the largest software provider in the world, the company recently brought in a new CEO to change the tides of the its mobile services and up efforts in cloud services. Thomas Steyer, George Soros, Ray Dalio and Richard Chilton are also stakeholders here.
Now comprising 2.13% of Steve Mandel’s portfolio, Intercontinental Exchange Group is another long-term investment and has increased +39.17% over the past year. Its Q4 results included per-share earnings of $2.00, beating the consensus by $0.05. Mandel joins Leon Cooperman and Dalio in investing in ICE.
Another big buy for Mandel was SBA Communications. The billionaire purchased 5.45 million shares in Q4 (2.11% of his portfolio). The telecommunications giant continues to keep pace with its fast-growing industry, and new sector developments are benefiting the company’s bottom line. SBCA is up +40.66% over the past year and will announce results on February 25th.
Steve Mandel’s Increased Positions
Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG) remains Steve Mandel’s largest holding, comprising 4.91% of his fund. The investor purchased 1.2 million additional shares last quarter, bringing his total to 18.9 million assets. The stock has been struggling this year, down -3.55% YTD, though it is still quite valuable long-term (up +31.12% over the past year). Mandel isn’t alone in betting on Dollar General, as it is also in the portfolios of Chase Coleman, Jorge Lemann and Richard Chilton. What’s more, it holds the 10th spot on the iBillionaire Index (NYSE:BILLION).
And Dollar General wasn’t the only stock in which Steve Mandel upped the ante in Q4. In fact, he increased 19 positions in total, including in Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) and Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA). See the full list below:
Steve Mandel’s Reduced Positions
Q4 wasn’t all buys for Steve Mandel– he did a fair share of selling, too. In fact, he reduced his positions in 25 different options and shares, including two of his largest holdings, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (NASDAQ:CTSH) and Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN).
Mandel’s decision to sell on Cognizant and Priceline is a bit puzzling. Both constituents of the iBillionaire Index (NYSE:BILLION), Cognizant’s stock price has increased +30.46%, and Priceline’s +85.08%, over the past year. The former recently revised its long-term guidance, and the latter is expected to announce results on Thursday.
Steve Mandel’s Sold Out Positions
Steve Mandel eliminated a total of 11 companies from his portfolio last quarter, dropping big names like eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Visa Inc (NYSE:V). He also unloaded all of his shares of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), which was removed from the iBillionaire Index recently as well.
Here’s a full list of where Mandel cashed out of in Q4:
