Bill Gates (Trades, Portfolio), who is known for being the co-founder of Microsoft, the biggest PC software company in the world, is also known as a philanthropist and investor. He has been on the Forbes list of wealthiest people time and time again. This year, he is number 7, with a net worth of $79.2 billion.
When it comes to giving back, Gates and his wife took advice from Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio), a friend of theirs, who said, "Don't just go for safe projects. Take on the really tough problems," and then came the birth of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that focuses on tackling issues like extreme poverty, holes in the American educational system and poor health in third-world countries. Gates used some of his stocks in Microsoft to help create the foundation.
Gates currently holds 19 stocks in his portfolio, with a total value of $19.99 billion and a quarter over quarter turnover rate of 4%. His largest holding is Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRK.B, Financial), which consists of 53.2% of his overall portfolio. Gates owns 83,625,314 shares and 3.58% of the company's shares outstanding.
Here's a look at the Microsoft inventor's most recent buys:
United Parcel Service Inc (UPS, Financial)
Gates purchased 4,525,329 shares of UPS at an average price of $105.44/share during the fourth quarter of 2014. UPS consists of 2.5% of his overall portfolio.
UPS was incorporated in 1999 as a package delivery company and a provider of supply chain management solutions.
UPS is currently trading at $101.79 and our DCF calculator gives the stock a fair value of $26.03 with a -291% margin of safety, which means this stock may be overvalued.
The company's current ratio is at a comfortable 1.46, indicating short-term financial strength.
UPS's P/S ratio is 1.65 and close to the five-year high of 1.81. It is also higher than the transportation and logistics industry median of 0.5.
More gurus currently holding UPS includes: Lou Simpson (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), Jeff Auxier (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Heebner (Trades, Portfolio), Pioneer Investors, Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio), Manning & Napier Advisors, Inc. and Bill Frels (Trades, Portfolio).
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA, Financial)
Gates purchased 3,475,398 shares of WBA at an average price of $67.03/share. WBA consists of 1.3% of his overall portfolio.
Walgreens Co was incorporated in Illinois in 1990 as a company that provides health and wellness services, consumer goods as well as pharmacies in each store in the U.S. Products are not only offered in the stores but also over the phone, internet, mobile applications and mail.
Walgreens is currently trading at a price of $78.73/share and our DCF calculator gives the stock a fair value of $21.95 with a margin of safety of -259%, indicating the stock may be overvalued. We gave Walgreens a Business Predictability ranking of 3 stars out of 5. The average gain for 3-star stocks is 8.2% per year.
WBA's dividends per share over the past year have been $1.31 and earnings per share have been $2.13. According to the chart above, EPS may continue to grow up to $5.20 by 2017, indicating the dividend may be sustainable. The current payout ratio is 61%. The P/E ratio is at 36.96, which is close to the 10-year high of 37.00.
Other gurus currently holding WBA include: Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), Pioneer Investments (Trades, Portfolio), John Hussman (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Fisher, John Keeley (Trades, Portfolio), Tom Gayner (Trades, Portfolio), Dodge & Cox, Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio), Jeremy Grantham, Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) and George Soros (Trades, Portfolio).
Diamond Foods Inc (DMND, Financial)
10,412 shares of DMND were purchased during 2014 Q4 at an average price of $29.02/share.
Gates first added this stock to his portfolio in 2011 Q4, in which he purchased 351,019 shares at an average price of $45.49/share. More shares were added in 2012 Q1 and then sold in 2013 Q4 at an average price of $23.94/share.
DMND is currently trading at $26.78/share.
Diamond Foods was incorporated in Delaware in 2005. The company specializes in processing, marketing and distributing snack products and culinary, in-shell nuts and ingredient nuts.
The company's current revenue is $877.2 billion and over the past 12 months, the average Revenue per share Growth Rate was -16.80%. During the past 5 years, the Growth Rate was -2.60%. Revenue has been declining over the past five years.
DMND's current ratio is at a comfprtable 1.40, indicating good short-term financial strength.
Other gurus also holding DMND include: Robert Bruce (Trades, Portfolio), Howard Marks (Trades, Portfolio), Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Steven Cohen (Trades, Portfolio) and Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio).
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