Two stocks billionaire Bill Ackman is selling

Super-investor Bill Ackman’s equity firm slashed its holdings in Chipotle by nearly 10% in the first quarter of 2024 and completely dumped hardware giant Lowe’s Companies, but remains heavily invested in Google, Hilton, and Restaurant Brands International. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission mandates investors with over $100 million under management to file a 13F report within 45 days of the end of the last quarter. 

These investors must outline their portfolio holdings at the end of the quarter, revealing to the public how they are investing their money. 

Ackman’s journey into investing began in his early years when he interned at a real estate development company in his hometown of Chappaqua, New York.

He later attended Harvard Business School, where he honed his investment skills and developed his investing philosophy.

After graduating, Ackman founded his own hedge fund, Gotham Partners, which focused on value investing and activism.

In 2004, Ackman launched Pershing Square Capital Management, where he continued using his unique investing approach to build a highly concentrated portfolio of carefully selected stocks.

Ackman is highly respected in investment circles. His Pershing Square Holdings hedge fund has compounded annually at a rate of 16.1% for nearly two decades.

Ackman’s investment strategy is focused on identifying companies with strong growth potential that are undervalued by the market.

He looks for companies with a competitive advantage, a strong management team, and a clear growth path.

Once he has identified a company he believes in, he takes an active approach to investing, using his influence as a shareholder to push for changes he believes will increase the company’s value.

This approach has been highly successful for Ackman, with many of his investments resulting in significant long-term returns.

Despite his success, Ackman’s portfolio is notably small, consisting of just a few carefully selected positions.

This is because he believes in investing only in companies that he has thoroughly researched and understands rather than simply diversifying his portfolio for the sake of it.

This approach allows him to maintain a deep understanding of the companies he invests in, giving him an edge over other investors who may be spread too thin.

Pershing Square’s portfolio

At the end of the first quarter of 2024, Ackman’s Pershing Square had a portfolio worth $10.76 billion and was only invested in six companies. 

Ackman made only two changes to his portfolio in three months, selling 9.82% of Pershing’s stake in Mexican fast-casual chain Chipotle and dumping its stake in Lowe’s.

Over the past year, Pershing’s stakes in Chipotle and Hilton have been cut, while its holding of Lowe’s has been eliminated, perhaps revealing that the billionaire is concerned about a slowdown in US consumer spending. 

Below is a detailed breakdown of Pershing Square’s portfolio. 

Company	Percent of Portfolio	Change	Value
Chipotle Mexican Grill	20.10%	Reduce 9.82	$2,162,590,000
Hilton Worldwide	18.20%	No change	$1,958,438,000
Restaurant Brands International	17.24%	No change	$1,855,009,000
Alphabet (Google) Class C	13.27%	No change	$1,427,772,000
Howard Hughes	12.72%	No change	$1,369,037,000
Canadian Pacific Railway	12.37%	No change	$1,330,973,000
Alphabet (Google)	6.11%	No change	$657,274,000