Karsch Capital Management LP revealed in its first quarter 13F filing that it added 21 new stocks to its portfolio, bought more shares of six stocks, exited 19 stocks and reduced holdings in five stocks. The top ten holdings of Karsch Capital represent 55.48 percent of its portfolio. The hedge fund’s long-only investment portfolio posted a 10% gain in the first quarter of this year. Overall, Karsch Capital returned 4.4 percent in the first three months of the year. Karsch Capital has a market value of $1.62 billion.
Karsch Capital Major New Positions
Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC) was the biggest new addition to its portfolio during the first quarter. Karsch Capital purchased 1,639,390 shares of the company for $126.3 million. Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC) now represents 7.78 percent of its portfolio. Another big new addition was Ulta Salon, Cosmetics and Fragrance, Inc. (NASDAQ:ULTA) of which the hedge fund purchased 1,003,132 shares for $81.42 million, representing 5.01 percent of Karsch Capital’s total portfolio.
Karsch Capital also acquired 1,439,140 Class B shares of CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) for $67.19 million. The hedge fund also purchased 1,007,232 shares of Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) for $43.83 million, which represent 2.70 percent of its portfolio. The fifth largest new addition to Karsch Capital’s portfolio was Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL). Karsch Capital purchased 1,251,560 shares of the software giant for $40.46 million during the first quarter.
Top Positions
The new addition Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC) is the biggest holding of Karsch Capital as of March 31. The second largest holding was Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) of which the hedge fund owns 2,780,841 shares currently valued at $114.7 million. Karsch Capital purchased 1,657,261 shares of Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) during the quarter.
Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ESRX) was the third largest holding of Karsch Capital. The New York-based hedge fund owns 1,952,192 shares of Express Scripts. It represents 5.72 percent of Karsch Capital’s total portfolio.
Sold Out Positions
Karsch Capital sold out its entire stake in QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM). The hedge fund owned 1,896,307 shares of the technology company at the beginning of the first quarter. It represented 7.91 percent of Karsch Capital’s total portfolio. The hedge fund also closed its position in Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) by selling all the 1,267,330 shares of the credit rating agency it owned.
Another major position closed during the quarter was Ingersoll Rand Plc. (NYSE:IR) by selling 1,300,207 shares of the Irish company. Karsch Capital also sold out its entire holding (2,338,270 shares) of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB).
