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Summary For the second quarter of 2015, the fund was up 1.96% versus 0.28% for the S&P 500. Top 10 holdings (65.5% of the fund): Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Berkshire Hathaway, TJX Companies, O’Reilly Automotive, Fastenal, MasterCard, Precision Castparts, Mohawk Industries, IDEXX Laboratories, and Google. During the second quarter, the fund cut its position in Qinetiq Group and Novozymes A/S and trimmed its third largest holding, TJX Companies. Since its inception on 7/15/1970, an investment in the Sequoia Fund (MUTF: SEQUX ) has returned 14.61% annually versus 10.88% for the S&P 500. The fund is noted for its long-term value investing style, portfolio concentration, and outperforming in down years. For more background on the fund, you can check out my original article here . The fund noted in the second quarter that it doesn’t know which way the market is going and trying to predict its direction is futile. The fund continues to look for market-leading companies that earn high returns on capital, boast strong balance sheets and self-fund their growth. The fund also likes to invest alongside motivated, ethical management teams. With over 15% of the fund in cash, the fund has plenty dry powder for when opportunities arise. Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX ) continues to be the largest position in the fund by far, accounting for nearly 29% of the fund. If you’re interested in learning Sequoia’s thought process for owning the stock, check out the investor day presentation from May, you can find the link here . Valeant continues to keep busy on the acquisition front and recently acquired the “female Viagra,” a new FDA approved drug called Addyi. Here’s the fund activity for the second quarter of 2015. New Stakes: None Stake Disposals: Qinetiq Group ( OTCPK:QNTQY ) is a British multinational defense technology company. The fund acquired 23 million shares back in 2010 for a roughly 1% stake in the portfolio. The ADR traded between $6 and $8 at the time. The fund maintained its position through 2013. During the fourth quarter of 2014, the fund sold over 43% of its position. Prices ranged from $11.50 to $14.75. In the annual report, the fund noted how it has been disappointed in the results of its European companies, including Qinetiq. The selling continued in the first quarter of 2015. The fund sold 27% of its position, just over 3.5 million shares. Prices ranged from $11 to $12.50. The job was finished in the second quarter of 2015 as the fund disposed of its remaining 9.4 million shares while prices traded between $11.25 and $15.00. Novozymes A/S ( OTCPK:NVZMY ) produces and sells industrial enzymes, microorganisms, and biopolymers worldwide. The fund bought just over 2 million shares in the second quarter of 2012 when prices ranges from $25.50 to $29.50. The fund likes Novozymes for its industrial enzymes, animal nutrition, and corn ethanol enzymes businesses. It estimates the company has a dominant market share in industrial enzymes and a 60% market share in corn ethanol enzymes. It also likes that there are high barriers of entry for these businesses due to the time, expertise, and resources needed to produce its products and operate efficiently. In the first quarter of 2015, the fund sold 221k shares, or 10.7% of its position, when prices ranged from $40 to $50. The fund sold its remaining stake in the second quarter of 2015. Prices ranged from $45.50 to $49.50. Stake Increases: None Stake Decreases: Rolls Royce ( OTCPK:RYCEY ) designs, develops, manufactures, and services integrated power systems worldwide. The company is known for its expertise in making engines for wide-body jets. The fund has been in Rolls Royce since 2007. It built up the position to over 12 million shares by the end of 2008. Since then it’s held, save very minor selling. Despite continuing to hold, the fund is very concerned over the position. While it admires its jet engine business, it questions the board of directors’ recent decisions to diversify into marine engine and power generation businesses. It’s also concerned the company is abandoning its Total Care service contract selling model which was very successful under the former CEO. As for the current CEO, John Rishton, the fund says, “… in our meetings with him, has shown minimal awareness of the returns on capital his acquisitions have generated.” The fund was selling in the second quarter, trimming the position by 437k shares when prices traded between $13.75 and $16.00. The stock is now trading below $12. Perrigo Company (NYSE: PRGO ) is a developer and manufacturer of over-the-counter consumer goods and pharmaceutical products. The fund picked up just over a half million shares in the third quarter of 2010. The stock traded between $55 and $66.50. In April of this year Mylan N.V. (NASDAQ: MYL ) made an unsolicited $29 billion bid for Perrigo. At the same time, Teva (NYSE: TEVA ) made a $40 billion offer for Mylan. That eventually fell through. Mylan has since upped its bid for Perrigo to $33 billion and then again to nearly $36 billion. Mylan shareholders recently approved the transaction and the company will be taking the deal directly to Perrigo shareholders. We’ll see what happens. The fund trimmed its Perrigo position by about 13% during the second quarter. Prices traded between $183 and $215 after Mylan’s original offer. TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX ) is a discount apparel and home furnishing retailer operating under the T.J.Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods brands. The fund has been in TJX since 2000, when it held nearly 7.9 million shares. The position was built up to over 15 million shares by the end of 2002. The fund steadily decreased its position between 2003 and 2007, and by 2008, it was down to 4.9 million shares. The fund added significantly in 2011, increased the position size from 5.1 million to 10.2 million shares. Prices ranged from $21.50 to $32.69 in 2011. The fund still holds 10.2 million shares and the position makes up 7.88% of the portfolio. Three quarters ago, the fund sold approximately 400k shares, or 4% of the position. It sold another 1% of its position last quarter. And the selling accelerated in the second quarter as the fund sold over 3.1 million shares at prices between $64 and $70. TJX is still a top three holding for the fund, but its percentage of the portfolio has gone from 8% to 5%. Kept Steady: Omnicom (NYSE: OMC ) , Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP ), Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA ( OTCPK:CFRUY ) , Constellation Software ( OTCPK:CNSWF ), O’Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY ) , Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC ) , Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE: CNQ ) , Sirona Dental Systems (NASDAQ: SIRO ) , Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A ) (NYSE: BRK.B ) , Danaher (NYSE: DHR ) , EMCOR Group (NYSE: EME ) , Trimble Navigation (NASDAQ: TRMB ) , Mohawk Industries (NYSE: MHK ) , Expeditors International (NASDAQ: EXPD ) , Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) , West Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WST ) , Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS ) , Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST ) , Praxair (NYSE: PX ) , IMI plc ( OTCQX:IMIAY ) , MasterCard (NYSE: MA ) , Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO ) , Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL ) (NASDAQ: GOOG ) , Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ) , International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM ) , Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT ) , Admiral Group ( OTCPK:AMIGY ) , Hiscox Ltd. ( OTC:HCXLY ), Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ: VRSK ) , Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST ) , Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF ) , Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT ) , Croda International ( OTCPK:COIHY ) , Cabela’s (NYSE: CAB ), and IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ: IDXX ) saw no changes from the first quarter of 2015 to second quarter of 2015. Here’s a snapshot of the activity from the first quarter of 2015 to the second quarter of 2015: (click to enlarge) Editor’s Note: This article discusses one or more securities that do not trade on a major U.S. exchange. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks. Disclosure: I am/we are long GOOGL, OMC, FAST, WMT. (More…) I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Scalper1 News
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