Fisher Investments, the firm led by Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), disclosed in a regulatory portfolio update filing that its top trades during the fourth quarter of 2022 included boosts to its holdings of Block Inc. (SQ, Financial) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Financial) and reductions in its positions in Marvell Technology Inc. (MRVL, Financial), Meta Platforms Inc. (META, Financial) and PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL, Financial).
The Camas, Washington-based firm seeks long-term capital appreciation by identifying information not widely known to the public or by interpreting widely known information differently from other market participants. The firm believes that supply and demand solely determine the price of a security and that the market has already priced in all widely known information about the security.
As of December 2022, the firm’s $147.90 billion 13F equity portfolio contains 1,010 stocks, with 143 new positions and a quarterly turnover ratio of 6%. The top four sectors in terms of weight are technology, financial services, health care and consumer cyclical, representing 25.17%, 13.02%, 10.61% and 10.45% of the equity portfolio.
Investors should be aware 13F filings do not give a complete picture of a firm’s holdings as the reports only include its positions in U.S. stocks and American depository receipts, but they can still provide valuable information. Further, the reports only reflect trades and holdings as of the most-recent portfolio filing date, which may or may not be held by the reporting firm today or even when this article was published.
Block
The firm added 6,791,842 shares of Block (SQ, Financial), expanding the position by 148.68% and its equity portfolio by 0.29%. Shares averaged $61.70 during the fourth quarter.
GuruFocus’ GF Value Line labeled the San Francisco-based payment solutions company a possible value trap based on its low price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.44 as of Tuesday and poor profitability rank of 4 out of 10.
Block’s low profitability rank stems from several warning signs, which include a return on equity that underperforms more than 60% of global competitors and a gross profit margin that has declined by approximately 6.4% per year on average over the past five years.
Despite low ranks for profitability and GF Value, Block has a GF Score of 76 out of 100, driven by a momentum rank of 8 out of 10, a growth rank of 7 out of 10 and a financial strength rank of 6 out of 10.
Other gurus with holdings in Block include Frank Sands (Trades, Portfolio)’ Sands Capital Management and Catherine Wood (Trades, Portfolio)’s ARK Investment Management.
Advanced Micro Devices
Fisher Investments added 6,490,705 shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Financial), boosting the position by 33.47% and its equity portfolio by 0.28%. Shares averaged $66.01 during the fourth quarter.
GuruFocus’ GF Value Line labeled the Santa Clara, California-based microchip company a possible value trap based on the company’s low price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.61 as of Tuesday and a modest momentum rank of 5 out of 10.
Despite the modest momentum rank, the company has a GF Score of 89 out of 100, driven by a rank of 9 out of 10 for growth and financial strength, a GF Value rank of 8 out of 10 and a profitability rank of 7 out of 10.
Advanced Micro Devices has a financial strength rank of 9 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a high Altman Z-score of 7.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio that outperforms approximately 79% of global competitors.
Marvell Technology
Fisher Investments sold 10,290,635 shares of Marvell Technology (MRVL, Financial), slicing 89.04% of the position and 0.33% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of Marvell Technology averaged $40.82 during the fourth quarter; the stock is significantly undervalued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.63 as of Tuesday.
The Wilmington, Delaware-based fabless semiconductor company has a GF Score of 80 out of 100 based on a GF Value rank of 8 out of 10, a growth rank of 7 out of 10, a momentum rank of 4 out of 10 and a rank of 6 out of 10 for profitability and financial strength.
Marvell Technology’s profitability ranks 6 out of 10: Although the company’s gross margin of 51.34% outperforms approximately 82% of global competitors, gross margins have declined by approximately 4.3% per year on average over the past five years. Additionally, net profit margins and returns on equity are underperforming approximately 80% of global competitors.
Meta Platforms
The firm sold 2,693,807 shares of Meta Platforms (META, Financial), trimming 22.78% of the position and 0.27% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of Meta averaged $117.43 during the fourth quarter; the stock is significantly undervalued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.50 as of Tuesday.
The Menlo Park, California-based social media giant has a GF Score of 89 out of 100 based on a growth rank of 10 out of 10, a profitability rank of 9 out of 10, a financial strength rank of 7 out of 10 and a rank of 4 out of 10 for GF Value and momentum.
Meta’s profitability ranks 9 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a three-star business predictability rank and an operating margin that outperforms approximately 85% of global competitors.
PayPal
Fisher Investments sold 4,069,384 shares of PayPal (PYPL, Financial), curbing 23.03% of the position and 0.26% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of PayPal averaged $80.04 during the fourth quarter; the stock is significantly undervalued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.35 as of Tuesday.
The San Jose, California-based payment solutions company has a GF Score of 88 out of 100 based on a rank of 9 out of 10 for profitability and growth, a financial strength rank of 6 out of 10, a momentum rank of 5 out of 10 and a GF Value rank of 4 out of 10.
