By the looks of his most recent 13F report, leading hedge fund manager John Paulson kept busy in Q4. While his total number of holdings sits tight at 87, he did quite a bit of shuffling around.
John Paulson’s New Acquisitions
Paulson made 14 new purchases during Q4 2013, which now account for a combined 15.64% of his entire portfolio. His picks were quite diversified, from pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to IT.
His most significant purchase was of Extended Stay America Inc (NYSE:STAY), of which he picked up 55 million shares. STAY is now Paulson’s largest position, representing 7.21% of his fund. The operator of company-branded hotels recently reported better-than-expected results and raised its target price. Shares are up +7.58% since the beginning of Q4.
See the full list of John Paulson’s new acquisitions below:
John Paulson’s Increased Positions
The billionaire increased nine allocations during the fourth quarter of last year, upping the ante in big names like Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD), Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC), Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S) and Caesars Entertainment Corp (NASDAQ:CZR).
All four have fared quite well in recent months. Since the start of Q4, VOD is up +17.65%, TWC +25.30%, Sprint +46.64% and CZR +33.84%.
John Paulson’s Decreased Positions
Paulson decreased 26 positions during Q4, of which 10 are options. What is perhaps most interesting is that while he increased his stakes in Sprint and Caesars, he backed off of competitors MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) and T-Mobile US Inc (NYSE:TMUS).
John Paulson’s Sold Out Positions
John Paulson did quite a bit of cleanup in Q4, cashing out of 14 positions. Overall, he unloaded minor stakes, including iBillionaire Index holdings FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) and Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), in which he had only minor allocations in Q3.
