"Tracking Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital Portfolio – Q2 2016 Update"
"Stephen Mandel’s 13F portfolio increased from $20.10B to $21.67B. The number of positions decreased from 40 to 38.Lone Pine Capital added Activision Blizzard and Sherwin Williams while dropping Allergan plc and JD.com.The top three individual stocks are Priceline Inc., Dollar Tree, Facebook Inc. and they add up to ~18 % of the portfolio.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Stephen Mandel’s US stock portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on Mandel’s regulatory  filed on 08/15/2016. Please visit our  article for an idea on his investment philosophy and our  for the fund’s moves during Q1 2016.This quarter, Mandel’s US long portfolio increased 7.84% from $20.10B to $21.67B. The number of holdings decreased from 40 to 38. The top three individual stock positions are at 18.03% while the top five are at 28.55% of the US long assets: Priceline Inc., Dollar Tree, Facebook Inc., Amazon.com, and Constellation Brands.Stephen Mandel worked at Tiger Management under Julian Robertson for eight years starting in the late 1980s, making him a bona fide tiger cub. To know more about Julian Robertson and his legendary Tiger Management, check out .Stake Disposals:Allergan plc (AGN): AGN was a 2.39% of the US long portfolio position established last quarter at prices between $266 and $313 and disposed of this quarter at prices between $202 and $278. The stock currently trades at $243.Note: Allergan had a previous roundtrip in the portfolio. It was a 2.89% of the US long portfolio position as of Q3 2015. That position was established in Q1 2015 at prices between $255 and $317 and increased by ~25% the following quarter at prices between $283 and $313. The entire stake was sold in Q4 2015 at prices between $253 and $323.Baxalta Inc. (BXLT): BXLT was a 2.13% of the portfolio merger arbitrage stake purchased last quarter at prices between $36.46 and $41.80. In January, Shire plc (SHPG) agreed to acquire BXLT in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $45.57 and the deal closed in June.Illumina Inc. (ILMN): ILMN was a 1.35% of the US long portfolio stake. It was purchased in Q1 2015 at prices between $181 and $203 and almost doubled the following quarter at prices between $182 and $221. Q3 2015 saw a ~36% reduction at prices between $168 and $240 and that was followed with a ~54% reduction last quarter at prices between $135 and $192. The disposal this quarter was at prices between $134 and $178. The stock currently trades at $170.JD.com Inc. (JD): JD was a 2.91% of the portfolio position purchased in Q4 2014 and Q1 2015 at prices between $23 and $30. Q4 2015 saw a ~38% reduction at prices between $25.52 and $32.65and that was followed with a ~18% selling last quarter at prices between $22.88 and $32.27. The position was sold out this quarter at prices between $20 and $30. The stock is now at $25.56.Diageo plc (DEO) and Horizon Pharma plc (HZNP): These two very small (less than ~1.5% of the portfolio each) stakes were disposed of this quarter. Both positions were established in Q2 2015 at higher prices. Lone Pine Capital realized losses.New Stakes:Activision Blizzard (ATVI): The 1.88% ATVI position was purchased at prices between $33.41 and $39.39 and the stock is now at $40.67. ATVI is back in the portfolio after a quarter’s gap: a similar position was established over Q3 & Q4 2015 but that stake was disposed last quarter.Sherwin Williams (SHW): SHW is a small 1.55% portfolio position established this quarter at prices between $280 and $300. The stock currently trades at $287.Shire plc (SHPG): SHPG is a 2.15% portfolio stake established this quarter at prices between $165 and $192. The stock is now just outside that range at $194.Note: Part of the SHPG position came about as a result of the merger with Baxalta that closed in June. It was a cash-and-stock deal with Baxalta shareholders receiving $18 in cash and 0.1482 shares of SHPG for each share of Baxalta held. Lone Pine Capital held 10.59M shares of Baxalta for which they received 1.57M shares of SHPG. During the quarter, they also increased the position to 2.53M shares.Stake Decreases:Adobe Systems (ADBE): ADBE is a 2.21% of the US long portfolio position. It was first purchased in Q1 2014 and almost doubled the following quarter at prices between $60 and $73. Q2 2015 saw a ~23% reduction at prices between $73 and $84 and that was followed with a one-third reduction the following quarter at prices between $74 and $87. Q4 2015 saw another ~35% reduction at prices between $80.65 and $95.56. Last quarter saw an about turn: ~26% increase at prices between $73.85 and $93.78. The stock currently trades at $101. This quarter saw marginal trimming.Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) (GOOGL) previously Google: The 3.36% of the portfolio stake in GOOG was established in Q4 2015 at prices between $608 and $777 and increased by ~74% last quarter at prices between $678 and $765. This quarter saw a ~26% reduction at prices between $668 and $767. The stock currently trades at $770.Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN): AMZN is a top-five 5.43% of the portfolio position purchased in Q3 2015 at prices between $430 and $548 and increased by ~14% the following quarter at prices between $512 and $694. Last two quarters have seen a ~25% combined reduction at prices between $482 and $728. The stock is now at $757.Equinix Inc. (EQIX): EQIX is a medium-sized 3.83% portfolio stake. It is a long-term position first purchased in 2010. Around 4M shares were acquired at the time at a cost-basis in the low-80s. The position size has wavered since although by Q4 2014 the stake was back at ~4M shares. Q1 2015 saw a ~30% reduction at prices between $217 and $239. Q4 2015 saw another ~20% reduction at prices between $265 and $305. The stock is now at $365. Last quarter had seen a ~10% increase while this quarter saw a ~8% trimming.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~3% of Equinix.Facebook Inc. (FB): The top-three 5.77% FB stake was purchased in Q3 2014 at prices between $66.34 and $78.79. Q2 2015 saw a ~20% increase at prices between $77.46 and $88.86 and that was followed with a ~10% increase the following quarter at prices between $82 and $98. Last quarter saw another ~17% increase at prices between $94 and $116. The stock currently trades at $124. There was a minor ~4% trimming this quarter.Note: FB has seen a previous presence in the portfolio. Around 11M shares were purchased in Q4 2012 at prices between $19 and $29. The stake was disposed of in 2013 and early 2014 at much higher prices, realizing huge gains.FleetCor Technologies (FLT): The 3.80% FLT stake is from 2013 - Mandel is sitting on large gains on this position. Q3 2015 saw a ~17% increase at prices between $138 and $164. It currently trades at $166. Last two quarters have seen minor trimming.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~4.8% of FleetCor Technologies.MasterCard Inc. (MA): The 2.02% MA stake was established in Q3 2013 at prices between $59 and $69 and increased by ~30% the following quarter at prices between $67 and $83. Q1 2014 saw some selling but the following three quarters saw a huge ~200% increase at prices between $69 and $89. 2015 saw a combined ~70% reduction at prices between $82 and $102. Last quarter saw a ~18% further reduction at prices between $80.65 and $97.36. The stock is currently at $95.53. This quarter also saw a marginal reduction. Mandel is harvesting gains.Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): MSFT is a fairly large 4.08% of the portfolio position. Around 27M shares were purchased in Q4 2013 at prices between $34 and $38. Q4 2014 saw a huge ~75% reduction at prices between $43 and $50. The position was built back up to ~29.4M shares over the first two quarters of 2015 at prices between $40.40 and $47.59. Last three quarters had seen a ~12% reduction at prices between $42.61 and $55.91. This quarter saw another one-third reduction at prices between $48.43 and $56.46. The stock currently trades at $57.95.Northrop Grumman (NOC): NOC is a 2.71% of the portfolio stake. It was purchased in Q4 2015 at prices between $166 and $192 and increased by ~50% last quarter at prices between $178 and $199. This quarter saw a ~19% selling at prices between $198 and $222. The stock is now at $214.Ulta Salon (ULTA): ULTA is a medium-sized 3.75% stake first purchased in 2012 at much lower prices. Last quarter saw a ~40% increase at prices between $153 and $173. Mandel is sitting on huge gains. The stock is now at $274. Q4 2015 saw a ~9% increase while last quarter saw a ~6% trimming. There was marginal selling this quarter.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~5.3% of Ulta Salon.Visa Inc. (V): V is a 2.47% stake purchased in Q4 2014 and Q1 2015 at prices between $51 and $68 and increased by ~31% in Q4 2015 at prices between $70 and $80. Last quarter saw a ~41% selling at prices between $67.77 and $77.55. The stock currently trades at $80.29. This quarter saw a very minor ~4% trimming.Barclays Bank plc (BCS) Puts and Proshares Ultra VIX Short Term Puts: These minutely small short positions (less than ~0.5% of the portfolio each) were almost sold out this quarter.Stake Increases:Charter Communications (CHTR) & Calls: The fairly large 5.06 % CHTR position was first purchased in Q3 2014 at prices between $152 and $164 and the following quarters also saw minor buying. Q2 2015 saw a whopping ~150% increase at prices between $168 and $193. Q4 2015 saw an about turn: ~50% reduction at prices between $175 and $193. Last quarter also saw marginal trimming while this quarter saw a ~4% increase. The stock is currently at $252.Constellation Brands (STZ): STZ is a top-five 5.09% stake established in Q3 2015 at prices between $115 and $131. Last three quarters have seen a combined ~43% increase at prices between $125 and $164. The stock is now at $167.Anheuser Busch Inbev (BUD) and Lululemon Athletica (LULU): BUD & LULU are ~2.5% of the portfolio stakes established in Q4 2015. Both were increased significantly this quarter. The BUD position was purchased at prices between $106 and $129 and increased by ~125% this quarter at prices between $121 and $132. The stock is now at $126. The LULU position was established at prices between $44 and $54 and increased by ~43% this quarter at prices between $60 and $74. The stock currently trades well above those ranges at $80.18.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~5.8% of LULU.Monster Beverage (MNST): MNST is a medium-sized ~3% portfolio stake purchased last quarter at prices between $117 and $149 and increased by ~270% this quarter at prices between $123 and $161. The stock is now at $157.TransDigm Group (TDG): TDG is a long-term 2.90% portfolio position. The original stake is from 2009 at a cost-basis in the mid-30s. The stock has returned over 7-times and it currently trades at $284. This quarter saw a ~12% increase at prices between $219 and $267.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~4.5% of TransDigm Group.Vulcan Materials (VMC): VMC is a 2.10% of the portfolio stake. The bulk of the current position was purchased in Q1 & Q2 2015 at prices between $67 and $92. This quarter saw a ~16% increase and the stock currently trades at $119.Dollar Tree (DLTR): DLTR is a top-three 5.81% of the portfolio position. It was established in Q3 2015 at prices between $65 and $82 and increased by ~156% the following quarter at prices between $61 and $80. The stock currently trades above those ranges at $88.37. Last quarter had seen a ~12% trimming while this quarter saw a ~15% increase.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~5.7% of DLTR.Electronic Arts (EA): EA is a 1.24 % of the portfolio position established in Q2 2015 and increased by just over 10-times the following quarter at prices between $63 and $75. Q4 2015 saw a ~27% reduction at prices between $65 and $77 and that was followed with another ~70% reduction last quarter at prices between $55.50 and $70.83. This quarter saw an about turn: ~86% increase at prices between $61.85 and $77.25. The stock currently trades at $81.61.Nike Inc. (NKE): The 4.66% NKE stake was purchased in Q1 2015 at prices between $46 and $55 and decreased by ~20% in Q3 2015 at prices between $52 and $63. The stake was doubled in Q4 2015 at prices between $61 and $68. This quarter saw a ~53% increase at prices between $51.89 and $61.59. It currently trades at ~$60. For investors attempting to follow Mandel, NKE is a good option to consider for further research.Note: The prices quoted above are adjusted for the 2-for-1 stock split in November 2015.PayPal Holdings (PYPL): PYPL is a ~2% of the portfolio position established last quarter at prices between $31.20 and $41.32. The stock is now at $37.45. This quarter saw a minor ~6% increase.Priceline Inc. (PCLN): PCLN is currently the largest position at 6.46% of the portfolio. The long-term stake was first purchased in 2011 at a cost-basis of ~$500. The original position was sold down by ~44% in Q3 2013 at prices between $900 and $1030 and another two-thirds in Q1 2014 at prices between $1132 and $1358. There was a combined ~380% increase over the next three quarters at prices between $1064 and $1280. 2015 saw a combined ~40% reduction at prices between $1008 and $1454. This quarter saw the pattern reverse: ~42% increase at prices between $1186 and $1390. The stock is now at $1408.Yum Brands (YUM): The medium-sized 3.82% YUM stake was first purchased last quarter at prices between $65 and $82 and increased by a whopping ~560% this quarter at prices between $79 and $86. The stock is now at ~$90.Commscope Holding (COMM) and Sears Holdings (SHLD) Puts: These are minutely small (less than ~0.5% of the portfolio each) stakes. They were both increased this quarter but the positions are still too small to indicate a clear bias.Kept Steady:Cheniere Energy (LNG): LNG is a 2.23% of the portfolio position first purchased in Q3 2014 at prices between $70 and $84. The following quarter saw a ~28% increase at prices between $64.88 and $77.33. There was another ~54% increase in Q3 2015 at prices between $47.47 and $70.65. The stock currently trades below those ranges at $43.20. For investors attempting to follow Lone Pine Capital, LNG is a good option to consider for further research.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~5% of the business. LNG is very popular among super investors: Seth Klarman (Baupost Group), Carl Icahn, and John Griffin (Blue Ridge Capital) have large stakes.American Express (AXP) & Calls, Arista Networks (ANET), HDFC Bank (HDB), Mohawk Industries (MHK), and Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD): These are very small (less than ~2% of the portfolio each) stakes kept steady this quarter.The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Mandel’s US stock holdings in Q2 2016:"