Author(s): Ben Ward

Stamford, Connecticut headquartered fund Point72 Asset Management reported trades for the December quarter this week. The hedge fund was founded in 2014 by Steven Cohen and has grown to a market value of $29.42 billion at the close of the December quarter.

The fund reported total holdings of 1,474 disclosed positions in securities including shares, bonds, ETFs and more. The chart below shows the fluctuation in the reported value of the fund over the last 8 years since inception.

The fund reported market value is currently around all-time highs.

 

The top 5 positions in the fund by portfolio weight are: Meta Platforms Inc (1.90%), SPDR S&P 500 ETF (1.63%). Broadcom Inc (1.53%),  salesforce.com (1.51%) and Amazon.com (1.44%).

Point72’s top portfolio increases during the quarter:

The most significant portfolio increase by the hedge fund during the quarter was in cloud-based software company salesforce.com (US:CRM) with a new 1.507% portfolio stake that was worth $443.61 million. The current position is worth $562.45 million showing solid gains from the stock prices’ annual low point at the end of December.

In January, Salesforce told the market that it would be cutting its workforce by around 10% in an effort to help achieve its target of cutting $3 to $5 billion in costs. The company will report fourth quarter results on the first of March with the market expecting sales of $8.0 billion with EPS of around $1.36.

The second largest increase was in Broadcom Inc (US:AVGO) with a 0.99% portfolio allocation increase to 1.53% by the end of the quarter. The position was worth $449.64 million at the filling date and is currently estimated to be worth $482.94 million.

Broadcom’s share price has returned to positive territory with a 2.7% gain over the last year after the share price recovered all of the 2022 losses in a 35% recovery rally since October. The semiconductor and infrastructure software provider will report first quarter results at the beginning of March with the market expecting $8.9 billion in sales with EPS of around $10.19 per share.

The third largest increase for the fund was in social media company Meta Platforms Inc (US:META) with a 0.86% portfolio increase to 1.90% of the fund worth $559.60 million during the time of filing. The position value is estimated to be worth $801.87 million currently.

Meta’s rally from its low point in October 2022 was boosted at the beginning of February when reporting fourth quarter results. The company posted sales of $32.17 billion, beating analyst forecasts of $31.5 billion with earnings of $1.76 per share. Meta also announced a new $40 billion share buyback during the result.

Ride share company Uber Technologies Inc (US:UBER) was fourth on the list with a new 0.82% stake that was worth $242.56 million. The position is currently estimated to be worth $355.25 million. Uber’s share price has recovered losses from 2022 but remains -40% below the highs achieved early in the pandemic.

UBER reported fourth quarter results in early February with gross bookings rising 19% over the year to $30.7 billion. Q4 sales were $8.6 billion, beating market expectations of around $8.5 billion with positive EPS of 29 cents.

Media streaming platform Netflix Inc (US:NFLX) was fifth on the list with a new 0.72% portfolio position worth $211.90 million. The position is currently worth around $252 million. Netflix’s stock fell more than 70% in late 2021 and early 2022 from highs but has staged a 100% recovery rally since the low point.

In mid-January the company reported fourth quarter results  with 7.66 million paid subscribers added during the quarter, outperforming the streets’ 4.57 million forecast. Sales of $7.85 billion came in as expected, although EPS of 12 cents per share missed forecasts of around 45 cents.

Other increases this quarter included a new position in UnitedHealth Group (US:UNH) with a 0.67% stake, a new position in Humana Inc (US:HUM)) with a 0.67% stake, a portfolio allocation increase of 0.61% in Amazon.com (US:AMZN) and also a portfolio increase by 0.59% in TransDigm Group (US:TDG).

Point72’s top decreases during the quarter:

The fund reduced its stake in  T-Mobile (US:TMUS) by -1.05% to 0.17% of the portfolio worth $50 million at the end of the quarter. The TMUS share price has performed well over the last year rising 20% and currently trading around all time highs.

The fund completely cut its -0.925% stake in cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks Inc (US:PANW) and also its 0.645% stake in work enterprise management software company Workday Inc (US:WDAY).

Point72 sold two thirds of its stake in AstraZeneca Plc (US:AZN) in a -0.69% portfolio reduction to 0.35 worth $104 million at the end of the quarter.

The fund also cut its stake in Biogen Inc (US:BIIB) by -0.64% to 1.15% of the portfolio worth around $339.54 million at the end of 2022.

Other major portfolio decreases during the quarter included Ross Stores (US:ROST) by -0.58%, Juniper Networks (US:JNPR) by -0.56%, The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (US:XLE) by -0.54% and a complete sell-down of EOG Resources Inc (US:EOG)

 

Recent new positions and existed positions in February:

Some of the new positions revealed by the fund this month have included a stake in  Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc (US:IOVA) and Longboard Pharmaceuticals Inc (US:LBPH)

The hedge fund has also recently reported the complete sell-down in stocks: Mereo BioPharma Group plc (US:MREO), Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc (US:RETA), Chimerix Inc (US:CMRX), Oyster Point Pharma Inc (US:OYST) and Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc (US:MACK).

This article only highlights a select few movements by the fund in recent times. To see the full comprehensive list with fund analysis, head to the Fintel Point72 Hedge Fund page.

This article originally appeared on Fintel

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