David Tepper Backs Off of Some Long-Term Bets in Q4

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Like many fund managers, Appaloosa Management’s David Tepper rang in Valentine’s Day with the filing of his quarterly 13F report to the SEC.

During Q4, David Tepper’s U.S. long portfolio grew from $6.2 billion to $7.9 billion, a +27% increase. He upped the number of equity positions in his portfolio from 64 to 70, his fund having a turnover of 47%.

David Tepper’s New Stakes

Tepper added 19 new companies into the mix during Q4:

American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL): With 7.02 million share, AAL now represents 2.22% the Appaloosa manager’s portfolio and is his most significant new stake. American Airlines’ last earnings report reflected an EPS of $0.59, beating expectations by 7.30%.

The other 18 new positions reflected in David Tepper’s portfolio are quite small, each composing less than 1% of his total U.S. holdings and representing a small bullish sentiment from the fund manager. The new additions are: Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN), Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU), CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS), Schlumberger Limited. (NYSE:SLB), The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE:DD), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC), ASML Holding N.V. (ADR) (NASDAQ:ASML), Ingersoll-Rand PLC (NYSE:IR), Pentair, Ltd. (NYSE:PNR), Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE:IPG), Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE:VMI), Cytec Industries Inc (NYSE:CYT), Triumph Group Inc (NYSE:TGI) and HD Supply Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:HDS).

David Tepper: Stake Increases

Tepper made significant increases in some of his stakes as well:

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY): The investor increased his SPY holdings by over +190% and is apparently quite bullish on this one, having first bought shares in Q3 2012. Other fund managers seem to share his take on this one, including Ray Dalio, Jorge Lemann and Richard Chilton.

PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (ETF) (NASDAQ:QQQ): With 8.7 million shares, QQQ now represents 9.59% of Tepper’s portfolio, a +51% increase from the prior quarter. This has been a strong bet as well, with a one-year performance of +33.39% and a 52-week range between $64.96 and $90.42.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG): Tepper has held a stake in Google since June 2011 and in Q4 2013 increased his allocation by over +60%. Though the tech giant recently fell short of earnings estimations, it boasts a one-year performance of over +50% – hence why it’s one of the constituents of the iBillionaire Index (NYSE:BILLION).

David Tepper: Stake Decreases

Last quarter, David Tepper downsized a number of positions as well:

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ:GT): Composing 3.63% of his U.S. portfolio (12 million shares), GT is still Tepper’s fourth biggest U.S. position. Last quarter, he reduced his stake by -35% at a price range of $20.57-$23.65. The stock is currently trading at $26.55 and has a 52-week range of $11.82-$27.27.

United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL): Tepper initiated his UAL position in 2009 with a three-million-share stake, and today, the company comprises 2.87% of his holdings. During Q4, he reduced his allocation by -29% at prices between $43.63 and $44.69. The stock returned 64.19% in 2013 and has a market cap of $15.80 billion.

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL): Tepper’s position also initiated in 2009, DAL has performed +320% to date. The billionaire scaled back his allocation by -33% last quarter at prices between $23.59 and $29.34. Currently, DAL represents 1.94% of his holdings.

Stake Disposals

David Tepper eliminated a total of 14 positions from his portfolio during the fourth quarter of 2013:

SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEARCA:DIA): In Q3, DIA was Tepper’s 13th biggest position, composing 2.4% of his portfolio. But last quarter, he sold off his entire stake at prices between $147.53 and $164.46.

US Airways Group Inc (NYSE:LCC): Tapper unloaded all of his 9.38 million U.S. Airways assets during Q3 at prices between $18.96 and $24.20.

Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HTZ): HTZ previously comprised a small 0.53% of the Tepper’s U.S. portfolio – approximately 0.33% ownership of the car rental company.

The majority of the stocks the billionaire sold off in Q4 represented under 1% of his holdings:

  • Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC)
  • SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK)
  • Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC)
  • Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)
  • Mpg Office Trust Inc (NYSE:MPG)
  • Sealed Air Corp (NYSE:SEE)
  • Tenet Healthcare Corp (NYSE:THC)
  • Dean Foods Co (NYSE:DF)
  • Fusion-IO, Inc. (NYSE:FIO)
  • J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP)
  • Tenneco Inc (NYSE:TEN)

Learn more about David Tepper and the ins and outs of his investment movements on his iBillionaire profile.

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