Top Q2 Hedge Fund Picks: News Corp, Priceline, Google, Sears & Beam

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All hedge funds are our with their Q2 13Fs. We covered many large funds. Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:AG) put out research today on the top 50 hedge fund positions in large, small and mid cap firms for Q2 2012 according to new 13F SEC filings are as follows:

Distribution by Sector

During the second quarter of 2012, hedge funds maintained maximum exposure in Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology in the S&P 500 companies. There were also significant reductions in investments made in Financials. Exposure in Industrials, Utilities, and Energy sectors was more or less kept constant.  Consumer Staples received the highest inflow of new investments overall among all sectors. Investments in Telecom were also reduced, after it contributed to maximum earnings in Q2 2012.

Top Q2 Hedge Fund Picks: News Corp, Priceline, Google, Sears & Beam

Among companies in the S&P 400 firms, exposure was increased in Information, Technology, and Healthcare, while reductions in investments were made in Financials, Materials, and Industrials.

In S&P 600 firms, increased investments were seen in Information Technology and Industrials, while reductions were made in the Consumer Discretionary and Financial sectors.

Top 15 Firms

Looking at the stock wise distribution in the combined portfolios of the top 50 hedge funds, the top 15 positions were calculated with respect to weight of the stocks in portfolios, while keeping in view their respective ranking in S&P 500, 400, and 600 index.

News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) (NASDAQ:NWS) and Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN) take up the top two spots in the S&P 500 companies, with an overall share of 1.4 percent each, among all investments. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD) come in close seconds with 1.2 percent and 1.1 percent share in the combined top 50 hedge funds’ portfolio. Other big names in the S&P 500 are, Beam Inc (NYSE:BEAM), AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN), Motorola Solutions Inc (NYSE:MSI),  and Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM). Surprisingly, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), which close to 300 hedge funds own doesnt make it on the list.

Top Q2 Hedge Fund Picks: News Corp, Priceline, Google, Sears & Beam

In the S&P 400 index, the top overweight firms were Equinix Inc (NASDAQ:EQIX), which makes up 4.7 percent in the aggregate portfolio, Endo Health Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:ENDP) with 1.3 percent, while Lamar Advertising Co (NASDAQ:LAMR) , Advent Software Inc (NASDAQ:ADVS), and Carter Inc (NYSE:CRI) , each account for 1.1 percent of the combined portfolio.

In the S&P 600 index, the top overweight firms were Hain Celestial Group Inc (NASDAQ:HAIN), with 3.0 percent, Viasat Inc (NASDAQ:VSAT), at 2.9 percent, and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO), with 1.4 percent.

Sector wise, the most frequent category among top 15 firms is Consumer Discretionary. Hedge Funds reduced their exposure in Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) from last quarter’s 1.6 percent. The fresh additions to the top 15 overweights are Monsanto Co (NYSE:MON), TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP), Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE:KMI), WellPoint Inc (NYSE:WLP), and Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS).

Maximum Percentage Owned

Among large firms with market caps of over $4 billion, the top stocks with highest percentage of shares outstanding owned by top 50 hedge funds, are as seen in below image.

The top five stocks are Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD), as 41 percent of Sear’s stock is distributed among 9 different hedge funds. AutoNation Inc (NYSE:AN) is held by 5 of top 50, while Charter Communications Inc (NASDAQ:CHTR) and LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) are held by 14 hedge funds. Liberty Global inc (NASDAQ:LBTYA) and Equinix Inc (NASDAQ:EQIX) are the most popular, with positions in 18 and 15 of the top 50 hedge funds.

The most popular mid cap firms (market cap $1.5 billion- $4 billion) are, CVR Energy Inc Energy (NYSE:CVI) and Nationstar Mortgage Holdings (NYSE:NSM).

 

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