Credit: Shutterstock photoWe took a closer look at some of the biggest George Soros stock picks, from Microsoft (MSFT) to Halliburton (HAL).
George Soros is known for a lot of things besides his investing prowess. In fact, the investment that made him famous happened over a decade ago – when he made over a billion dollars shorting the British Pound before what became known as "Black Wednesday."
While he is most famous for his currency transactions as an investor, Soros make headlines regularly for his controversial political stances and activist investment policies. He and Carl Icahn are squaring off against Bill Ackman's billion dollar Herbalife (HLF) short position, and he once said in a 2003 interview that for him, getting rid of George W. Bush was a "matter of life and death."
So this investor has some pretty strong opinions.
Since starting the Soros Management Fund back in the 1970s, he's realized about 20% annualized growth each year. But then Soros has also written extensively against investing in hedge funds – where he says the high fees make it too hard to actually beat the market.
Read more: Is An ‘Activist Mutual Fund’ a Smart Investment?
Investing ideas
We decided to take a look at the biggest holdings in Soros' portfolio by looking at his latest quarterly 13F filing – where hedge funds declare all the stocks they hold.
Over the course of the year, the most noticeable trends include some value plays in technology – his largest holding is Microsoft (MSFT) – and a number of oil and gas equipment stocks like Halliburton (HAL).
Among the Soros Fund's many investments, nine of the biggest holdings are listed below.
Click here to access the interactive chart to see data over time.
Do you see investing opportunities among some of the bigger George Soros stock picks? Use the list below to begin your own analysis.
1. Microsoft Corporation: Develops, licenses, and supports a range of software products and services for various computing devices worldwide. Market cap at $313.3B, most recent closing price at $38.31.
2. FedEx Corporation (FDX): Provides transportation, e-commerce, and business services in the United States and internationally. Market cap at $43.31B, most recent closing price at $138.04.
3. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (TEVA): Develops, produces, and markets generic drugs; and proprietary branded pharmaceuticals in various therapeutic categories and active pharmaceutical ingredients worldwide. Market cap at $34.49B, most recent closing price at $40.20.
4. Halliburton Company: Provides various products and services to the energy industry for the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas worldwide. Market cap at $48.51B, most recent closing price at $52.02.
5. CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF): CF Industries Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiary, CF Industries, Inc., manufactures and distributes nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer products, serving agricultural and industrial customers worldwide. Market cap at $12.33B, most recent closing price at $214.19.
6. Schlumberger Limited (SLB): Schlumberger Limited, together with its subsidiaries, supplies technology, integrated project management, and information solutions to the oil and gas exploration and production industries worldwide. Market cap at $122.59B, most recent closing price at $87.64.
7. The Mosaic Company (MOS): Engages in the production and marketing of concentrated phosphate- and potash-based crop nutrients for the agriculture industry worldwide. Market cap at $20.23B, most recent closing price at $46.40.
8. Yandex NV (YNDX): Operates the largest search engine in Russia. Market cap at $13.89B, most recent closing price at $39.85.
9. BlackRock, Inc. (BLK): Provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors. Market cap at $51.58B, most recent closing price at $298.41.
(List compiled by James Dennin. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Invesment Research.)
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
