Hedge funds heavily warmed up to the shares of Walt Disney Co. in the fourth quarter.
The media and entertainment giant had the largest increase in net new hedge fund investors during the period compared to other widely held hedge fund stocks, according to an analysis of Novus data detailing stocks held by this crowd. In fact, Disney was one of just a handful of stocks among the 50 most widely held by hedge funds to see a big rise in the number of investors during the final three months of last year, the Novus data seen by Institutional Investor show.
In the fourth quarter, 50 hedge funds established new positions in Disney while just 15 fully exited, for a net gain of 35, according to Novus. As a result, 220 hedge funds held a position in Disney at yearend, making it the ninth-most popular hedge fund stock.
Jericho Capital Asset Management was one of Disney’s new investors in the fourth quarter, making the stock its largest U.S. long position, according to its 13F filing for the fourth quarter. New investor Third Point made the stock its second largest long, while Taconic Capital Advisors instantly made Disney its third largest U.S. long, according to regulatory filings.
In fact, in its fourth-quarter letter seen by II, Third Point told clients Disney was one of its top performers for the period.
Coatue Management was Disney’s largest hedge fund investor at the end of the fourth quarter with more than 11 million shares, making it the Tiger Cub’s largest U.S. long, according to a regulatory filing. Viking Global Investors, which bought more than 4.2 million shares in the quarter was the largest purchaser of the stock for the period, a regulatory filing shows.
Uber Technologies also saw a net increase of 35 hedge fund investors in the fourth quarter, according to Novus. As a result, 147 hedge funds held a position in the stock, giving it a ranking of No. 25 among hedge fund owners at the end of 2020, Novus data show.
Tiger Global Management, for example, boosted its stake by more than 12 million shares during the period, making Uber its tenth-largest U.S. long position, according to its 13F filing. Coatue bought more than nine million shares, making it the firm’s eighth-largest U.S. long, according to its filing.
New investors in the fourth quarter included Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management, Dorsal Capital Management and Newbrook Capital Advisors, according to filings.
Chip maker Micron Technology was able to crack the Novus top-50 ranking after 23 more hedge funds established new positions than fully exited. The company had 135 hedge fund investors at year-end, ranking No. 31 overall, according to Novus.
Other stocks that had sizable net increases in hedge fund investors during the fourth quarter were drug giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (157 total investors), chip maker Nvidia Corp. (154), exchange-traded fund SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (144) and conglomerate Danaher Corp. (134).
