John Griffin's Top 5 Increases of the First Quarter

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May 24, 2013
John Griffin is the president of Blue Ridge Capital, an investment partnership that he founded in 1996. Blue Ridge’s Investing Philosophy states that the investment firm seeks absolute returns by investing in companies who dominate their industries and shorting the companies who have fundamental problems. The firm employs fundamental analysis to make its investments. John Griffin’s portfolio as of the first quarter held 43 stocks, with 7 new buys, and was valued at $7.955 billion.



Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS)

Griffin increased his holdings in Michael Kors 117.95% this past quarter. Griffin bought 1,150,000 shares of KORS at an average price of $56.85 per share. Since his buy the price has increased 4.5% from the average purchase price. John Griffin holds on to a total of 2,125,000 shares making up 1.5% of his total portfolio.



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Michael Kors is a global luxury lifestyle brand led by a renowned, award-winning designer and strong management team. It operates its business in three segments: retail, wholesale and licensing. In Fiscal 2012, its retail segment accounted for approximately 48.1% of its total revenue.

Michael Kors has only been publicly traded since Dec. 2011. But in fiscal 2010 KORS’ pro forma EPS were $0.40 and they nearly doubled to $0.78 in 2011. Earnings are expected to be $1.86 when fiscal year 2012 is reported for the period ended March 30, 2013. The company announced that it would report its fourth quarter and fiscal year results on May 29, 2013.

Michael Kors has a market cap of $12.03 billion; its shares were traded at around $59.41 with a P/E ratio of 34.90 and a P/S ratio of 6.00.

Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (WYN)

John Griffin bought 1,088,859 shares of Wyndham during the first quarter, representing a 62.54% increase of his holdings of the company. Since his buy the price per share has increased 2.6% from the average purchase price. Griffin currently holds 2,830,000 shares of Wyndham Worldwide. His holdings in the company make up 2.3% of his total portfolio.



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Wyndham Worldwide operates as a hospitality company and offers individual consumers and business customers a suite of hospitality products and services across various accommodation alternatives and price ranges through its portfolio of world-renowned brands. The company has more than 20 hotel brands in its portfolio including Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Super 8, Microtel and Ramada.

Wyndham Worldwide has a market cap of $8.14 billion; its shares were traded at around $60.11 with a P/E ratio of 21.60 and P/S ratio of 1.80. The dividend yield of Wyndham is 1.7%.

MGIC Investment Corporation (MTG)

Griffin added 5 million shares of MGIC Investment to his portfolio during the first quarter, representing a 50.5% increase in his holdings of the company. Griffin purchased these shares for an average price of $3.48 per share. Since the most recent buy, shares are up 73.6% to around $6.04 per share. The guru currently holds on to 14,900,600 share of MTG making up 0.93% of his portfolio.



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MGIC Investment is a holding company for Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation which is a provider of private mortgage insurance in the U.S. In addition to mortgage insurance on first liens, it provides lenders with various underwriting and other services and products related to home mortgage lending.

GuruFocus warns of the following:

· MGIC’s revenue has been in decline for the past five years.

· The company’s operating margin has also been on a 5-year decline. The average rate of decline per year is -16.5%.

· MGIC Investment’s P/B ratio is at a 10-year high.

· Their P/S ratio is close to a 2-year high of 1.04.

MGIC Investment has a market cap of $1.99 billion; its shares were traded at around $6.00 with a P/S ratio of 1.00.

W.R. Grace & Co. (GRA)

Griffin increased his holdings in W. R. Grace & Co. 28.21% in the first quarter. Griffin bought a total of 660,000 shares at an average price of $73.12 per share. Since his most recent buy the price per share has increased about 8% from his average purchase price.



John Griffin currently holds on to 3,000,000 shares of W. R. Grace & Co. His holdings in the company make up 2.9% of his total portfolio.

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W. R. Grace & Co. is engaged in the production and sale of specialty chemicals and specialty materials on a global basis through its three operating segments: Grace Catalysts Technologies, Grace Materials Technologies and Grace Construction Products.

W. R. Grace & Co. has a market cap of $6.05 billion; its shares were traded around $79.22 with a P/E ratio of 70.20 and a P/S ratio of 2.00. W. R. Grace had an annual average earnings growth of 6.8% over the past 10 years.

Tenet Healthcare Corp (THC)

In the first quarter Griffin increased his stake in Tenet Healthcare by 22.19%. Griffin purchased 385,000 shares at an average price of $39.70 per share. Since his increase, the price per share has jumped 12.3% to around $44.60 per share. Griffin now holds a total of 2,120,000 shares of Tenet Healthcare, representing 1.3% of his total portfolio.



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Tenet Healthcare is an investor-owned health care services company whose subsidiaries and affiliates mainly operate acute care hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, diagnostic imaging centers and related health care facilities. Its core business is focused on providing acute care treatment, including inpatient care, intensive care, cardiac care, radiology services and emergency medical treatment.

Tenet Healthcare has a market cap of $4.58 billion; its shares were traded at around $44.45 with a P/E ratio of 62.90 and P/S ratio of 0.50.

You can view John Griffin’s complete portfolio here. Also check out his Undervalued Stocks, Top Growth Companies and High Yielding Stocks.