In Q4 2013, the 50 largest hedge funds bought AAPL, CCI, and TWTR; sold LYB, EQIX
The 50 largest hedge funds increased their equity exposure by 3.6% in Q4 2013. Apple (AAPL) experienced the highest increase in exposure (+$1.8 billion), primarily due to half-billion dollar purchases from Coatue Management, Citadel Advisors, and Icahn Associates. These purchases exclude activity after the end of the fourth quarter, including two half-billion dollar purchases Mr. Icahn tweeted in late January. But with Mr. Icahn recently dropping his proposal to boost Apple’s stock buyback plan, it’s possible that the hedge funds could flip on the stock once again. Apple was also among the equities with the largest increase in exposure in the aggregate fund portfolio in Q2, but was among those with the largest decreases in three quarters of 2012 (Q1, Q3, and Q4).
Increased exposure in Crown Castle (CCI) was spread across many funds. Though the wireless infrastructure firm’s exposure grew in the aggregate fund portfolio by $1.1 billion, no individual fund purchase exceeded $0.3 billion. Crown Castle was in the news several times in Q4: for acquiring the rights to AT&T (T) towers valued at $4.8 billion, for issuing positive guidance for FY 2013 and 2014, and for equity and debt issuance (41.4 million shares in a follow-on offering and nearly $1 billion in bonds). However, the stock has underperformed lately. It is down 2.5% over three months, and returned only 10% over the one-year timeframe (versus 21% for the S&P 500). Other big names on the purchase list of the top 50 hedge funds in Q4 included big U.S. banks (Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC)) and Vodafone (VOD), which was previously the subject of takeover rumors from AT&T.
Several IPO’s, including Twitter (TWTR), also added significant equity positions to the aggregate hedge fund portfolio. Lansdowne Partners and Gilder, Gagnon, Howe & Co. were revealed to be two of the three largest hedge fund owners of the stock, but neither manager was within Twitter’s top ten shareholders overall. The two firms hold nearly $350 million in the stock, which amounts to 60% of the top 50 hedge funds’ overall position but only 1.1% of Twitter’s total shares outstanding.
