Robert Karr (Trades, Portfolio), founder of Joho Capital, likes to hold very concentrated positions in the area of new technologies, and that tendency could be seen in his trading activity in the third quarter. He bought shares in only three companies and reduced his holdings in eight others, but more than one-third of those 11 companies are directly involved in online media, and two others are involved in the production and distribution of materials that are used in that sector.
In the last six months, the average gain for his stocks has been 7.5%. In the last 12 months, his average gain has been 22.32%.
Karr became an investor in Qunar Cayman Islands Ltd (QUNR, Financial), a travel-booking service controlled by Baidu (BIDU, Financial), for the first time since briefly holding 25,000 shares a year ago. Karr acquired 1,011,591 shares in Qunar at an average price of $28.92. The purchase had a 4.7% impact on his portfolio.
Karr also added to his stakes in Google Inc (GOOG, Financial) and Hexcel Corp (HXL, Financial).
Karr’s purchase of 27,000 shares in Google, a California-based multinational corporation specializing in Internet-related services and products, at an average price of $579.9, had a 2.65% impact on his portfolio.
Hexcel, a provider of manufacturing materials based in Connecticut, has been in Karr’s portfolio for three years. In the third quarter, he acquired 70,963 shares at an average price of $39.44. The purchase had an impact on his portfolio of 0.48%.
In the third quarter, Karr reduced his stakes in 58.com Inc (WUBA, Financial), Yelp Inc (YELP, Financial), Baidu, 21Vianet Group Inc (VNET, Financial), Veeco Instruments Inc (VECO, Financial), Tarena International Inc (TEDU, Financial), Vipshop Holdings Ltd (VIPS, Financial) and TAL Education Group (XRS).
The reduction in 58.com, an online classified advertisement service that has been called the “Craigslist of China,” had the greatest impact on Karr’s portfolio. Karr sold 729,253 shares – nearly four-fifths of his stake – for an average price of $46.2. The transaction had a -6.02% impact on his portfolio.
Karr sold 393,631 shares (about two-thirds of his stake) of Yelp, a San Francisco-based company that hosts and markets online sites that publish reviews of local businesses. The shares were sold for an average price of $74.8, a loss of 20%, with an impact to his portfolio of -4.58%.
Karr sold 121,00 shares – about 15% of his stake – in Baidu, a Chinese web services company based in Beijing, for an average price of $95.14. The divestiture had a 3.45% impact on his portfolio.
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