Fidelity’s Contrafund continued to trim its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the first six months of the year, cutting it 28 percent. Will Danoff, manager of the well-known fund, said he cut its stake in the company because of its “slowing growth profile.”
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is now the fund’s largest holding with about 6 percent of its net assets in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) is in second place on Contrafund’s portfolio.
Reuters’ Tim McLaughlin reports that even though Danoff greatly reduced his stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) he is still the iPhone maker’s biggest active shareholder. The only funds with larger stakes are passive exchange-traded and index funds.
Thomson Reuters data shows that at the end of June, Contrafund held 8.3 million shares, which were worth about $3.3 billion. At the end of last year, the fund owned almost 11.6 million shares of the stock. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is now Contrafund’s third largest holding.
Contrafund loses on Apple, wins on Tesla
Danoff said that during the June quarter he bought more shares of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), a company they believe “was fundamentally reengineering the automobile for the first time in decades.” The firm raised its Tesla holdings 59 percent in June from May, according to Benzinga’s Matthew Kanterman. As of the end of June, Contrafund’s position in Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) was worth $337 million.
While shares of Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) have been rising steadily since the beginning of the year, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has fallen about 15 percent and is far below the September high of $705 per share. The falling value of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has of course had a negative impact on Contrafund’s performance this year to date. During the second quarter, it returned 2.05 percent, compared to the 2.91 percent advance recorded by the S&P 500.
However, Danoff continues to have a steady track record. Contrafund’s annual returns have averaged 7.35 percent, which is 3.11 percentage points ahead of the S&P 500’s annual return. His bet on Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is paying off so far as the stock has climbed 387 percent in the last 12 months.
