"Tracking William Von Mueffling’s Cantillon Capital Management Portfolio – Q1 2017 Update"
"William Von Mueffling's U.S. long portfolio increased this quarter from $7.14B to $7.82B.Mueffling substantially increased Visa, Becton Dickinson, Aon plc, and Equifax.The portfolio continues to be very concentrated with the top five positions accounting for close to one-third of the US long portfolio.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to William Von Mueffling’s US stock portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on Mueffling’s regulatory  filed on 05/01/2017. Please visit our  to get an idea of his investment philosophy and our  highlighting the fund’s moves during Q4 2016.This quarter, Mueffling’s US long portfolio increased ~10% from $7.14B to $7.82B. The number of holdings increased from 28 to 29. The portfolio continues to be heavily concentrated with the top five positions representing ~32% of the total US long holdings. The largest stake is Alphabet Inc. which accounts for ~8% of the US long portfolio. The largest five positions are Alphabet Inc., Analog Devices, S&P Global, Fidelity National Information Services, and Willis Towers Watson.New Stakes:Broadcom Ltd. (AVGO) and Sabre Corp. (SABR): These are the two new positions this quarter. AVGO is a 2.42% of the portfolio stake established at prices between $174 and $227 and the stock currently trades at $221. The ~1% SABR stake was purchased at prices between $21 and $25 and it currently goes for $23.63.Stake Disposals:Harley Davidson (HOG): HOG was a fairly large ~5% of the US long portfolio position as of last quarter. The original stake was established in Q2 2013 at prices between $50 and $60. The position was increased by 56% the following quarter at prices between $54 and $65. The entire stake was eliminated this quarter at prices between $56 and $63. The stock currently trades at $56.39.Stake Increases:Visa Inc. (V): V is a medium-sized ~4% stake established in Q4 2015 at prices between $70 and $80. It was increased by ~125% last year at prices between $70 and $83. This quarter saw another ~15% stake increase at prices between $78 and $90. The stock is now just above those ranges at $91.26.Allergan plc (AGN): AGN is a 3.19% of the portfolio stake established in Q2 2016 at prices between $202 and $278 and increased by one-third in Q3 2016 at prices between $231 and $260. The stock is now at $245. There was another ~10% increase this quarter.Beckton Dickinson (BDX): BDX is a 2.39% of the portfolio stake established last quarter at prices between $163 and $180 and increased by ~30% this quarter at prices between $165 and $185. The stock is now at $186.Equifax (EFX) and Aon plc (AON): These two are small (less than ~1.5% of the portfolio each) positions established last quarter and increased substantially this quarter. EFX is a ~1.4% of the portfolio stake purchased at prices between $112 and $135 and increased by ~55% this quarter at prices between $117 and $137. The stock is now at $135. The 1.61% AON position was established at prices between $108 and $116 and that stake was more than doubled this quarter at prices between $111 and $119. The stock currently trades at $120.Stake Decreases:Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) (GOOGL): GOOG is Mueffling’s largest position at 7.71% of the US long portfolio. The original stake was established in 2010 and doubled in 2011 at much lower prices. The last significant buying happened in Q2 2014 when the position was increased by ~14% at prices between $510 and $580. Last two quarters have seen a combined ~15% reduction at prices between $736 and $852. The stock currently trades at $913. Mueffling is starting to harvest huge long-term gains.Analog Devices (ADI): ADI is a long-term stake that has been in the portfolio since 2010. At the time, it accounted for just over 10% of the US long portfolio. The stake was increased by two-thirds in 2011 as well. The last major activity was in Q4 2014 when the position saw a ~20% increase at prices between $43 and $58. The stock currently trades at $76.22. It is Mueffling’s second-largest position at ~7% of the US long portfolio. There was very minor trimming this quarter.S&P Global (SPGI) previously McGraw Hill Financial: The top-three 6.21% SPGI stake was established in Q1 2015 at prices between $86 and $109. Q3 2015 saw a huge ~140% increase at prices between $85 and $107 and that was followed with another ~75% increase next quarter at prices between $87 and $100. There was a further ~20% stake increase in Q1 2016 at prices between $81 and $100. The stock currently trades at ~$135. Last four quarters saw minor trimming.Fidelity National Information Services (FIS): FIS was a minutely small position in Q1 2013. The following quarter saw the stake increased to a large ~6% position at prices between $39 and $46. Q3 2013 saw a 15% increase at prices between $43 and $48 and the following quarter saw another 44% increase at prices between $49 and $57. The stock currently trades well above those ranges at $84.42. Last two quarters have seen a combined ~25% reduction this quarter at prices between $74 and $84. It is still Mueffling’s fourth-largest position at 5.72% of the US long portfolio.Willis Towers Watson plc (WLTW): The large (top five) 5.29% stake came about as a result of the merger between Willis Group Holdings and Towers Watson that closed on January 6, 2016. It was structured as a merger-split-rename transaction and the resultant entity was named Willis Towers Watson plc.  Cantillon’s large stake in Willis Group Holdings was converted to WLTW shares. There was a ~12% increase in Q3 2016 at prices between $120 and $133. The original position is from Q3 2013 and his overall cost-basis is ~$110 compared to the current price of ~$133. There was a marginal trimming this quarter.Ecolab Inc. (ECL): ECL is a large 4.78% of the US long portfolio stake first purchased in 2012. The original position was increased by around 75% in Q1 2013 at prices between $72.50 and $80. Q4 2014 saw a ~20% increase at prices between $101 and $115 and the following quarter saw a further ~10% increase at prices between $99 and $117. Since then, the activity has been very minor. The stock currently trades at $129.Intercontinental Exchange (ICE): ICE is a large 4.59% of the US long portfolio stake established in Q4 2014 at prices between $39 and $45. In Q1 2015, the position was increased by ~50% at prices between $41 and $48 and the following quarter saw a further ~25% increase at prices between $44 and $48. There was another ~17% increase last quarter at prices between $52.50 and $60. The stock currently trades at $60.40.Note: Prices are adjusted for the 5-for-1 stock-split in October 2016.Baidu Inc. (BIDU): BIDU is a large 4.38% portfolio stake first purchased in 2012. The original position was increased by over 30% in Q1 2013 at prices between $84 and $113 and another 30% in the following quarter at prices between $83 and $103. Since then, the activity has been very minor. The stock currently trades at $180. Mueffling is sitting on large gains on this position.American Tower (AMT): AMT is a 4.34% position established in Q1 2016 at prices between $84 and $102 and increased by ~50% the following quarter at prices between $103 and $113. There was another ~150% increase last quarter at prices between $101 and $117. The stock currently trades at ~$128.Zoetis Inc. (ZTS): The 3.92% ZTS stake was established in Q4 2015 at prices between $41 and $48 and increased by ~170% the following quarter at prices between $39 and $48. It currently trades at $56.28.  Last four quarters saw minor trimming.NXP Semiconductors (NXPI): NXPI is a fairly large 3.87% position purchased in Q3 2016 at prices between $76 and $102. Last quarter saw a ~9% increase at prices between $96.50 and $105. The stock is now at ~$106.Note: NXPI share price experienced a 25% spike following Qualcomm’s (QCOM) announcement to acquire NXPI for $110 per share cash last October.ServiceMaster Global Holdings (SERV): The medium-sized 3.78% SERV position was purchased in Q1 2016 at prices between $35 and $42.50 and increased by ~55% since at prices between $32.50 and $41.50. It currently trades at $38.03. For investors attempting to follow Mueffling, SERV is a good option to consider for further research.Note 1: Cantillon controls ~5% of ServiceMaster Global Holdings.Note 2: ServiceMaster was taken private in 2007 in a private equity transaction. In June 2014, it had an IPO at $17 per share. The stock has more than doubled since.CME Group (CME): CME is a 3.75% of the US long portfolio stake established in Q4 2014 at prices between $78 and $93. Q4 2015 saw a ~60% stake increase at prices between $87 and $100. The stock currently trades above those ranges at ~$117. Last five quarters have seen only very minor adjustments.CBRE Group Inc. (CBG): The 3.63% stake in CBG was purchased in Q1 2016 at prices between $23 and $34.50 and increased by ~125% over the next two quarters at prices between $24.50 and $31. The stock is now at $36.25. There was minor trimming in the last two quarters.Note: Jeffrey Ubben’s ValueAct has a ~10% ownership stake in CBRE Group.Agilent Inc. (A): Agilent is a medium-sized 3.53% of the US long portfolio position established in Q4 2015 at prices between $33.50 and $42.50. The stock currently trades well above that range at $55.80. Last quarter saw a ~17% increase at prices between $43 and $48. There was a marginal trimming this quarter.Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (ST): ST is a 3.25% of the US long portfolio position established in Q2 2014 at prices between $44 and $50. The first three quarters of 2015 saw the stake more than doubled at prices between $49 and $59. The stock currently trades well below his purchase price ranges at $41.07. There was a very minor reduction this quarter.Cimpress (CMPR), TriNet Group Inc. (TNET), Bitauto Holding (BITA), Primerica Inc. (PRI), Credit Acceptance Corporation (CACC), and SS&C Technologies (SSNC): These small stakes (less than ~1.5% of the portfolio each) saw minor reductions this quarter.Note: Cantillon controls 6.6% of TriNet Group and ~5% each of Cimpress and Bitauto.The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Mueffling’s US stock holdings in Q1 2017:"