Hedge funds and major money managers on Tuesday disclosed their stock holdings at the end of the second quarter in their respective 13-F filings with the SEC.
Overall, the second quarter was a tough one for investors as the euro zone debt crisis worsened and concerns over a global economic slowdown rose. The S&P 500 dropped 3.3% in the second quarter, after posting solid gains in the first quarter.
Here is look then at what some of the top hedge funds bought in what was a difficult quarter for equity markets.
Coatue Management, which was founded by Philippe Laffont in 1999, disclosed in its 13-F filing that it bought 185,000 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG), the Mexican restaurant chain, in the second quarter, brining the fund’s total holdings in CMG to 567,102 shares.
CMG shares are currently trading close to $300. The stock has fallen more than 11%, year-to-date.
Banks were favored by a number of hedge funds during the second quarter.
BlueMountain Capital was one of the funds that were bullish on banks in the second quarter. BlueMountain, which was founded in 2003 by Andrew Feldstein and Stephen Siderow, disclosed in its 13-F filing that it initiated a position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), one of the world’s biggest banks. The fund bought around 623,000 shares of Citi.
Citigroup had reported robust results for the second quarter of 2012. The company’s shares have also done well this year, gaining more than 9.5%.
BlueMountain also raised its position in Flagstar Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: FBC) by 250,000 shares, according to the 13-F filing from the fund. A savings and loan holding company, FBC conducts its business through its subsidiary Flagstar Bank (FSB).
FBC shares are currently trading slightly below $1. Year-to-date, FBC shares have gained 90%.
It seems that the huge trading loss suffered by JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) in the second quarter did not deter BlueMountain from raising its stake in the bank. At the end of the second quarter, BlueMountain owned 233,505 shares of JPM, up from 80,910 shares at end of the first quarter.
Despite the significant trading loss, JPM reported solid results for the second quarter. JPM continues to be one of the strongest amongst major U.S. banks.
JPM shares are currently trading around $37. Year-to-date, the stock has gained 12.21%, outperforming the S&P 500.
BlueMountain is not the only fund that is bullish on JP Morgan. Short seller Jim Chanos’ Kynikos Associates also added 231,800 shares of JP Morgan, bringing the total stake to 323,400 shares. According to Kynikos’ 13-F filing, the fund also bought 279,000 shares of Citigroup in the second quarter.
Kynikos’ other purchases include Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL).
MSFT, which will be launching the latest version of Windows later this year, has also entered the tablet market. The technology giant will be launching its tablet to compete against the iPad.
MSFT shares are currently trading around $30. Year-to-date, MSFT shares have gained nearly 16%, outperforming the broad market. MSFT currently has a dividend yield of 2.66%.
Oracle shares are currently trading around $31.50. Year-to-date, the stock has gained 23.04%, which makes it one of the best performers in the Technology sector.
Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group disclosed in its 13-F filing that it initiated a new position on ORCL, buying 15.8 million shares of the technology company. ORCL is now Klarman’s fourth largest holding in his U.S. long portfolio. Klarman also raised his position in personal computer maker Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ). Klarman raised the stake in HPQ from 17,250,000 to 26,850.601.
HPQ shares are currently trading around $19.25. Year-to-date, the stock has fallen 25%, which makes it one of the worst performers amongst big technology companies.
Klarman also opened a new position in Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW), a financial security company providing insurance, wealth management, investment and financial solutions. Klarman’s Baupost Group bought 15 million shares of GNW. Another fund betting on GNW is David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital. The fund opened a new position in GNW, buying 658,700 shares.
GNW shares are currently trading around $5. Year-to-date, the stock has fallen more than 23%.
Einhorn is also betting big on health insurers. Greenlight Capital’s 13-F filing showed that the fund initiated new position in Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) and WellPoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP).
AET shares are down nearly 11%, year-to-date. CI shares, meanwhile, have gained more than 4%, year-to-date. WLP shares are down more than 13%, year-to-date.
BlueMountain is also bullish on the housing market. Recent data from the housing market suggests a recovery is underway and BlueMountain is looking to capitalize on this. In the second quarter, the fund initiated a position in KB Home (NYSE: KBH). BlueMountain bought 876,165 shares of the Los Angeles-based home builder.
KBH shares are currently trading around $10. Year-to-date, the stock gained more than 53%, easily outperforming the broad market.
Another fund betting on the recovery in the housing market is Jana Partners LLC. Jana disclosed in its 13-F filing that it bought 6.2 million shares of real estate investment trust American Realty Capital Trust Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCT). The REIT was formed to acquire a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate.
ARCT is currently trading around $11. Year-to-date, the fund has gained more than 7.5%.
John Paulson of Paulson & Co, famous for betting against the U.S. housing market, raised his stake in HCA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HCA) to 8 million shares in the second quarter of 2012.
HCA shares are currently trading around $27. Year-to-date, HCA shares have gained more than 23%, outperforming the S&P 500.
Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisors bought 7.1 million shares of McMoRan Exploration Co. (NYSE: MMR), according to a 13-F filing.
Based in New Orleans, MMR is engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas in the shallow waters of Gulf of Mexico and onshore in the Gulf Coast area. Year-to-date, MMR shares are down nearly 6%.
Finally some good news for Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB)
According to Tiger Global Management’s 13-F filing, the fund had 1.96 million shares of FB stock in its portfolio.
FB shares are down nearly 50% from their IPO price of $38 per share.
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