Two stocks billionaire Bill Ackman is dumping
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman has increased his stakes in entertainment and hospitality company Seaport Entertainment, sportswear giant Nike, and asset manager Brookfield.
He also cut back on his holdings in Mexican restaurant chain Chipotle and hotel company Hilton. Notably, Hilton and Chipotle were the two biggest stocks in Ackman’s portfolio as little as six months ago.
Ackman’s career in investing began early, with an internship at a real estate development firm in his hometown of Chappaqua, New York. This experience helped shape his understanding of financial markets and investment strategies.
He later attended Harvard Business School, where he refined his investment philosophy and analytical approach.
After graduating, Ackman launched his first hedge fund, Gotham Partners, which focused on value investing and activist strategies.
In 2004, he took his expertise a step further by founding Pershing Square Capital Management.
Using his distinct investment approach, he built a highly concentrated portfolio of carefully selected stocks, favouring companies with strong fundamentals and long-term growth potential.
Ackman is widely respected in the investment world, and his hedge fund, Pershing Square Holdings, has delivered an impressive 16.1% annualised return over nearly two decades.
His strategy revolves around identifying undervalued companies that have significant growth potential, a strong competitive advantage, and competent leadership teams.
Instead of passively holding shares, he takes an activist approach, leveraging his position as a shareholder to push for strategic changes that he believes will enhance the company’s long-term value.
This hands-on approach has led to major successes over the years, with many of his investments yielding substantial returns. Despite this, Ackman keeps his portfolio relatively small, currently consisting of just 10 stocks.
Rather than spreading his investments across many companies, he focuses only on businesses he has thoroughly researched and understands well.
This enables him to maintain deep insight into each company, allowing for strategic decision-making and an edge over investors with more diversified but less specialised portfolios.
Pershing Square’s portfolio
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) mandates that institutional investors managing over $100 million (around R1.8 billion) file a 13F report within 45 days after the end of each quarter.
These filings disclose portfolio holdings, providing a glimpse into where major investors like Ackman are putting their money.
Ackman’s 13F filing revealed that he continued cutting his investments in Chipotle and Hilton in the fourth quarter of 2024, which could indicate that he predicts a slowdown in consumer spending in the US.
However, he increased his shares in Seaport Entertainment, Nike, and Brookfield, which are new stocks he acquired between the second and third quarters of 204.
The table below outlines Pershing Square Capital Management’s portfolio as of 31 December 2024, valued at $12.61 billion (around R232.77 billion).
| Company | Percent of Portfolio | Change | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brookfield Corp. | 15.89% | Add 6.59% | $2,004,607,000 |
| Restaurant Brands International | 11.88% | No change | $1,499,200,000 |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | 11.78% | Reduce 14.44% | $1,486,608,000 |
| Howard Hughes | 11.50% | No change | $1,450,101,000 |
| Alphabet (Google) Class C | 11.39% | No change | $1,437,362,000 |
| Nike | 11.26% | Add 15.29% | $1,420,246,000 |
| Hilton Worldwide | 10.66% | Reduce 26.18% | $1,344,685,000 |
| Canadian Pacific Kansas City | 8.54% | No change | $1,076,696,000 |
| Alphabet (Google) | 5.98% | No change | $754,642,000 |
| Seaport Entertainment Group | 1.11% | Add 139.84% | $140,415,000 |
Source: Dataroma
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