"Tracking Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management Portfolio – Q3 2017 Update"
"Fisher’s 13F portfolio value increased from $66.32B to $71.30B in Q3 2017.Alibaba Group Holdings, Amazon.com, Visa Inc., Apple Inc., and Johnson & Johnson are the largest five individual stock positions.Fisher has substantial stakes in several ETFs/ETNs and hundreds of very small positions. They together account for more than one-third of the 13F portfolio.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Kenneth Fisher’s 13F stock portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on Fisher Asset Management’s regulatory  filed on 10/17/2017. Please visit our  article for an idea on his investment style and philosophy and  highlighting the fund’s moves in Q2 2017.This quarter, Fisher’s 13F portfolio value increased ~7.5% from $66.32B to $71.30B. The number of holdings increased from 802 to 843. Significantly large positions decreased from 72 to 67. The five largest individual stock positions are Alibaba Group Holdings, Amazon.com, Visa Inc., Apple Inc., and Johnson & Johnson. Together, they account for ~12% of the 13F stock portfolio.To know more about Ken Fisher, check-out his  (most notably in Behavioral Finance),  (several of them were NY Times best sellers) and his father Philip Fisher’s scuttlebutt investment philosophy explained in the book “”.Note: Fisher manages ~40,000 private client accounts and over 175 institutional accounts. Each such portfolio is personalized to client requirements and beating the S&P is not the focus for many of them. "13F Portfolio performance" which would be the performance of the sum total of all such monies in 13F securities is an unknown. We do know that Ken Fisher is very talented and can consistently generate alpha - his Forbes picks are his most visible performance cues and those have outperformed the S&P 500 in the vast majority of years. The latest picks (Jan 2017) are MasterCard (MA), Amgen Inc. (AMGN), Verizon (VZ), SAP (SAP), Salesforce.com (CRM), Textron Inc. (TXT) and United Technologies (UTX).Stake Increases:Roche Holding Limited ADR (RHHBY): RHHBY was a minutely small 0.19% of the portfolio position as of Q1 2015. The following quarter saw a whopping ~400% increase at prices between $34 and $38.50. There was another one-third increase this quarter at prices between $31 and $32.50. The stock currently trades below those ranges at $30.42 and the stake is now at 0.72% of the portfolio. For investors attempting to follow Fisher, RHHBY is a good option to consider for further research. Last quarter had seen a ~20% selling at prices between $31.50 and $34.50.Amazon.com (AMZN): AMZN is the second-largest individual stock position at 2.37% of the portfolio. The stake is from 2011 and the stock price has quintupled during the holding period: the cost-basis is ~$200 compared to the current price of $987. Q2 2016 saw a ~20% selling at prices between $586 and $728. There was another ~16% selling last quarter at prices between $885 and $1011. This quarter saw a very minor ~3% stake increase.Visa Inc. (V): The V position was first purchased in 2012 at much lower prices compared to the current price of ~$107. The size of the stake has tripled in the last five years through incremental purchases almost every quarter. There was a ~2% stake increase this quarter as well. The position is now the third-largest stake at 2.36% of the portfolio.Apple Inc. (AAPL): AAPL is a top-five 2.35% individual stock position that was built-up in 2012 at prices between $60 and $72. The original stake was increased by ~60% in Q2 2013 at prices between $59 and $65. There was a ~9% trimming last quarter at prices between $141 and $156. The stock currently trades at $156. This quarter saw a ~3% stake increase.Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): JNJ is a large top-five 2.15% of the portfolio position. Around two-thirds of the stake was purchased in 2008 at prices between $55 and $72 and most of the rest in 2011 at prices between $58 and $68. The stock currently trades at $142. There was a marginal stake increase this quarter.Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) (GOOGL): GOOG was a very small position that was built-up to a substantial 2% position in 2011 at prices between $242 and $301. The stock has tripled and currently trades at $985. The position stands at ~1.8% of the portfolio. There was a ~14% reduction last quarter at prices between $823 and $984. This quarter saw a ~3% stake increase.American Express (AXP): AXP has been in the portfolio since 2012. The original position was around 9M shares and the current stake is 11.55M shares. Q3 2016 saw a ~10% reduction at prices between $59 and $66 and the stock is now at $91.90. The position is now at 1.47% of the portfolio. There were minor ~3% stake increases in the last two quarters.Home Depot (HD): HD is a 1.26% of the US long portfolio position first purchased in 2012 at prices between $42 and $65. The three quarters thru Q1 2017 had seen minor increases. There was an about-turn last quarter: ~38% selling at prices between $146 and $159. The stock is now at $163. Fisher is harvesting long-term gains. This quarter saw a ~3% stake increase.Procter & Gamble (PG): PG is another long-term 1.13% of the US long portfolio position that has been in the portfolio since before the financial crisis. The original position was increased by just over 75% in 2012 at prices between $60 and $70 and has since been kept relatively steady. The stock currently trades at $91.59.Siemens AG (SIEGY): SIEGY is a ~1% portfolio stake increased by ~45% in Q1 2016 at prices between $44 and $53 and stock currently trades at $69.57. Last quarter saw a one-third increase at prices between $66.50 and $73 and that was followed with a minor ~3% increase this quarter.Note: The prices quoted above are adjusted for the 2-for-1 stock-split in March.SAP AG ADR (SAP): SAP is a ~1% of the US long portfolio position that was built-up over several quarters in 2012 at prices between $54 and $80. The stake has wavered since but the overall position is now at ~6.6M shares - roughly the same sizing as in Q4 2012. The stock currently trades at ~$113.UBS AG GRS (UBS): UBS is a ~1% of the US long portfolio position established in Q3 2013 at prices between $17 and $21.50. The original stake was reduced by around one-third in Q4 2013 at prices between $19 and $22. Q1 2014 saw an about-turn as the position was increased by ~37% at prices between $18.50 and $21.50 and the following quarter saw an additional 47% stake increase at prices between $18 and $21.50. In Q4 2014, the pattern reversed as the position was reduced by ~40%. Last eleven quarters have seen a combined ~60% increase at prices between $12.25 and $23. The stock currently trades at $17.31. For investors attempting to follow Fisher, UBS is a good option to consider for further research.Vodafone plc (VOD): VOD is a ~1% of the 13F portfolio position established in Q1 2017 at prices between $24.43 and $26.91 and almost doubled last quarter at prices between $25.50 and $30.50. The stock is now at $28.93. There was a ~5% further stake increase this quarter.Bayer AG ADR (BAYRY): BAYRY is a ~1% of the US long portfolio stake. The bulk of the current position was purchased in Q2 2014 at prices between $32 and $36. Q2 2015 saw a huge 84% increase at prices between $34.50 and $39. The stock currently trades at ~$35.21. For investors attempting to follow Fisher, BAYRY is a good option to consider for further research. Last several quarters have seen only marginal activity.Note 1: The prices quoted above are adjusted for the 4-for-1 stock-split last month.Note 2: In September 2016, Bayer AG agreed on a deal for Monsanto (MON) worth $128 per share all-cash. MON currently trades at ~$122.Anheuser Busch Inbev SA ADR (BUD): BUD was a minutely small stake as of Q2 2015. In Q3 2015, the stake was increased to a ~1% of the portfolio position at prices between $104 and $129. The stock currently trades at ~$126. Last six quarters saw marginal further increases.Oracle Corporation (ORCL): ORCL is a 0.83% of the US long portfolio position that has been in the portfolio since before the financial crisis. The original stake was reduced by around 50% in Q4 2013 at prices between $32 and $38. Since then the activity has been minor. The stock currently trades at $49.35. Q1 2016 saw marginal selling while last six quarters have seen minor increases.Novo-Nordisk A S ADR (NVO): NVO was established in 2011 with the bulk purchased in 2012 at prices between $23 and $34. Last quarter had seen a ~13% increase and that was followed with a ~4% increase this quarter. The stock currently trades at $50.68 and the position is at 0.82% of the US long portfolio.Cisco Systems (CSCO): CSCO is another long-term holding that was first purchased in 2009. By 2012, the stake was at over 33M shares. It has since been reduced to 16.4M shares (0.77% of the US long portfolio). The stock currently trades at $33.75.Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B): BRK.B is a 0.76% of the US long portfolio position. The last time a substantial stake build-up happened was in Q3 2013 at prices between $112 and $119 when the position was increased by ~55%. The stock currently trades at $187. It is a very long-term position. Last quarter saw a ~50% selling at prices between $161 and $172. Fisher harvested long-term gains. There was a marginal increase this quarter.Comcast Corporation (CMCSA): CMCSA is a 0.79% of the US long portfolio position. The original stake was established in 2012 at prices between $12 and $18.50. There had only been minor activity since. Last quarter saw a ~50% selling at prices between $37 and $42. The stock currently trades at $36.90. Fisher is harvesting long-term gains. There was marginal buying this quarter.Note: The prices quoted above are adjusted for the 2-for-1 stock-split in February.Bank of America (BAC), Chevron Inc. (CVX), Citigroup Inc. (C), Exxon Mobil (XOM), General Electric (GE), Intel Corporation (INTC), JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Merck Inc. (MRK), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), PepsiCo Inc. (PEP), Pfizer Inc. (PFE), United Technologies (UTX), Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), and Walt Disney (DIS): These are significant positions (more than 0.5% of the US long portfolio) in US blue chips that saw minor increases this quarter.Astrazeneca plc (AZN), BASF SE ADR (BASFY), BNP Paribas ADR (BNPQY), Banco Santander SA ADR (SAN), GlaxoSmithKline plc ADR (GSK), HSBC plc (HSBC), ING Groep NV ADR (ING), Intesa Sanpaolo Spa ADR (ISNPY), Lloyds Banking Group plc ADR (LYG), L Oreal Co. ADR (LRLCY), LVMH Moet Hennssy ADR (LVMUY), Novartis A G ADR (NVS), Sanofi ADR (SNY), Softbank Group ADR (SFTBY), Sumitomo Mitsui Financial (SMFG), and Tencent Holdings ADR (TCEHY): These are significant positions (more than 0.5% of the US long portfolio) in global blue chips that saw minor increases this quarter.Note: The overall portfolio had seen a significant shift toward European equities last quarter.Stake Decreases:Alibaba Group Holdings (BABA): BABA is the largest individual stock position at 2.49% of the portfolio. The original position was from Q2 2015 at prices between $81 and $93. Q1 2017 saw a two-thirds increase at prices between $88 and $110. That was followed with a ~90% increase last quarter at prices between $107 and $144. The stock currently trades at $178. The aggressive buying pattern indicates a clear bullish bias. There was marginal trimming this quarter.Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM): TSM is a very long-term 1.79% of the US long portfolio position. A large block was purchased in 2012 at prices between $12.50 and $16.50. The stake was reduced by ~50% in Q2 2013 at prices between $17 and $20. The nine quarters thru Q2 2016 saw the position rebuilt (70% increase) at prices between $19 and $26. Last quarter also saw a ~22% increase at prices between $31.50 and $36.92. The stock currently trades at $41.07. There was marginal trimming this quarter.CTrip.com International ADR (CTRP): CTRP is a 0.73% of the US long portfolio stake. The original position was increased by ~25% in Q3 2015 at prices between $30 and $40. The following quarter saw a huge ~120% increase at prices between $31 and $56. The stock currently trades at $49.80. There was a minor ~3% increase last quarter while this quarter saw a similar reduction.Note: The prices quoted above are adjusted for the 2-for-1 stock-split in December 2015.HDFC Bank (HDB), Baidu Inc. (BIDU), JD.com (JD), and Infosys Ltd. (INFY): These are significant positions (more than 0.5% of the US long portfolio) that saw minor reductions this quarter.The portfolio also has several large positions in different ETNs and ETFs (FEEU) (FIGY) (FBGX) (FLGE) (LQD) (MBB) (SCPB) - those together accounts for around 14% of the US long portfolio. Fisher also had large stakes in the following businesses per the latest 13G filings: Stratasys Ltd. (SSYS) - 6%, Atlas Air (AAWW) - 4.4%, Wright Medical (WMGI) – 5.6%, and Veeco Instruments (VECO) - 3.1%.The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Fisher’s US stock holdings (only positions that are over 0.5% of the US long portfolio each are individually listed) in Q3 2017:"