"Tracking Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital Portfolio – Q3 2015 Update"
"Stephen Mandel’s 13F portfolio decreased from $26.73B to $24.55B. The number of positions decreased from 50 to 47.Lone Pine Capital added Amazon.com while increasing Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Charter Communications. The large Currencyshares Euro puts stake was dropped during the quarter.The top-three individual stocks are Charter Communications, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, & Priceline and they add up to ~17 % 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 11/16/2015. Please visit our  article for an idea on his investment philosophy and the fund’s moves during Q2 2015.This quarter, Mandel’s US long portfolio decreased 8.14% from $26.73B to $24.55B. The number of holdings in the portfolio decreased from 50 to 47. The top three individual stock positions are at 17.30% while the top five are at 26.62% of the US long assets: Charter Communications, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Priceline, Microsoft, and JD.com.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:HCA Holdings (HCA): HCA was a 1.70% of the portfolio stake. The position was established in Q4 2014 at prices between $63 and $75. Last quarter saw a ~14% trimming. The remaining stake was eliminated this quarter at prices between $74 and $95. The stock currently trades at $68.96.Currencyshares Euro (FXE) Puts: The short Euro stake through Currencyshares Euro Puts was a huge 8.19% position established in Q1 2015 and disposed of this quarter.Lowes Companies (LOW): LOW was a 1.77% of the portfolio position first purchased in Q1 2015 at prices between $66 and $76 and increased by ~20% last quarter at prices between $67 and $74. The elimination this quarter was at prices between $66 and $74. The stock currently trades at $77.64.Advance Auto Parts (AAP), Autodesk Inc. (ADSK), Liberty Media Corp. (LMCA) (LMCK), McGraw Hill Financial (MHFI), MGIC Investment Corp (MTG), Perrigo plc (PRGO), SolarWinds Inc. (SWI), and Sunedison (SUNE): These are very small (less than ~1% of the portfolio each) stakes eliminated this quarter.New Stakes:Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN): AMZN is a large 4.04% of the portfolio position purchased this quarter at prices between $430 and $548. The stock is now at $675.Constellation Brands (STZ): STZ is a medium-sized 2.39% stake established this quarter at prices between $115 and $131 and the stock is now outside that range at $143.Activision Blizzard (ATVI), American Express (AXP) & Calls, Dollar Tree (DLTR), Expedia Inc. (EXPE), Mobileye NV (MBLY), and Molson Coors Brewers (TAP): These are very small (less than ~1.5% of the portfolio each) stakes established this quarter.Note: A 13G regulatory filing on 11/23/2015 shows Lone Pine Capital owning 13.19M shares (5.6% of business) of Dollar Tree. This is compared to ~5.1M shares in the 13F.Stake Decreases:Adobe Systems (ADBE): ADBE is a medium-sized 2.08% 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. Last quarter saw a ~23% reduction at prices between $73 and $84 and that was followed with a one-third reduction this quarter at prices between $74 and $87. The stock currently trades at $91.77.Equinix Inc. (EQIX): EQIX is a medium-sized 2.95% 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. Last quarter saw a ~10% increase while this quarter saw a ~12% reduction. The stock is now at $295.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~4.4% of Equinix.Illumina Inc. (ILMN): ILMN is a medium-sized 2.58% of the US long portfolio stake. It was purchased in Q1 2015 at prices between $181 and $203 and almost doubled last quarter at prices between $182 and $221. This quarter saw a ~36% reduction at prices between $168 and $240. The stock currently trades at $181.MasterCard Inc. (MA): The 3.06% 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. Q1 2015 saw an about-turn: ~58% reduction over the last three quarters at prices between $81 and $98. The stock is currently at $98.16.Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): MSFT is a top-five 4.71% 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 last two quarters at prices between $40.40 and $47.59. This quarter saw a ~11% trimming. The stock currently trades at $53.69.Nike Inc. (NKE): The 2.86% NKE stake was purchased in Q1 2015 at prices between $91 and $110 and decreased by ~20% this quarter at prices between $104 and $125. It is now at $134.Priceline Inc. (PCLN): PCLN is a large (top three) 5% long-term stake 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. This year has seen some selling: a combined ~30% reduction over the last three quarters at prices between $998 and $1352. The stock is now at $1246.SBA Communications (SBAC): SBAC is a 1.20% position. The stake is from Q4 2013 and Q1 2014 at prices between $77 and $97. Last quarter saw a ~29% reduction at prices between $112 and $124 and that was followed with a ~39% reduction this quarter at prices between $104 and $128. The stock currently trades at $106.CSX Corporation (CSX) & Calls, Fidelity National Financial (FNF) & Calls, Realogy Holdings (RLGY), Sears Holdings (SHLD) Puts, and Vulcan Materials (VMC): These are very small (less than ~1% of the portfolio each) stakes further reduced this quarter.Stake Increases:Allergan plc (AGN) previously Actavis plc: AGN is a 2.89% of the US long portfolio position established in Q1 2015 at prices between $255 and $317 and increased by ~25% last quarter at prices between $283 and $313. This quarter saw a ~14% further increase at prices between $252 and $340. The stock currently trades at $321.Charter Communications (CHTR) & Calls: The 6.88% CHTR stake is the largest individual stock position in the 13F portfolio. The position was established in Q3 2014 at prices between $152 and $164 and the following quarters also saw minor buying. Last quarter saw a whopping ~150% increase at prices between $168 and $193. The stock is currently at $186. This quarter saw a ~14% increase.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~8.6% of CHTR.Cheniere Energy (LNG): LNG is a 2.41% 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 this quarter at prices between $47.47 and $70.65. The stock is now at $49.31. For investors attempting to follow Lone Pine Capital, LNG is a good option to consider for further research.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~5.2% of business. LNG is very popular among super investors: Seth Klarman (Baupost Group), Carl Icahn, and John Griffin (Blue Ridge Capital) have large stakes.DaVita Healthcare (DVA): The original DVA stake was purchased in Q4 2014 and Q1 2015 at prices between $73 and $82. This quarter saw a ~45% increase at prices between $71 and $81. The stock currently trades at $73.75 and the stake is at 2.33% of the portfolio.Electronic Arts (EA): EA is a 2.42% of the portfolio position established last quarter and increased by just over 10-times this quarter at prices between $63 and $75. The stock currently trades at $69.51.Facebook Inc. (FB): The current 3.92% FB stake was purchased in Q3 2014 at prices between $66.34 and $78.79. Last quarter saw a ~20% increase at prices between $77.46 and $88.86 and that was followed with a ~10% increase this quarter at prices between $82 and $98. The stock currently trades at $105.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 3.61% FLT stake is from 2013 - Mandel is sitting on large gains on this position. This quarter saw a ~17% further increase at prices between $138 and $164. It currently trades at $154.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~7% of FleetCor Technologies.JD.com Inc. (JD): JD is a large 4.62% of the portfolio position purchased in Q4 2014 and Q1 2015 at prices between $23 and $30. The stock is now at $29.99. Last two quarters have seen very minor increases.Ulta Salon (ULTA): ULTA is a 2.18% stake first purchased in 2012 at much lower prices. This quarter saw a ~40% increase at prices between $153 and $173. Mandel is sitting on huge gains and is very bullish. The stock is now at $170.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~5.1% of Ulta Salon.Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX): VRX is the second-largest 13F stake at 5.42% of the US long portfolio. It was first purchased in 2013. This quarter saw a ~40% increase at prices between $158 and $263. The stock is now at $87.Visa Inc. (V): V is a 2.77% stake purchased in Q4 2014 and Q1 2015 at prices between $51 and $68. The stock currently trades well outside that range at $79.56. This quarter saw a ~10% further increase.Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) & Calls: The 2.65% WBA position was first purchased in Q4 2014. Last quarter saw a stake doubling at prices between $83 and $89 and that was followed with a roughly one-third increase this quarter at prices between $81 and $97. The stock is now at $83.40. For investors attempting to follow Mandel, WBA is a good option to consider for further research.Williams Companies (WMB) & Calls: The 2.65% WMB position was established in Q1 2015 at prices between $40.94 and $60.86. The stock currently trades at $36.44. This quarter saw a marginal increase.Arista Networks (ANET), Diageo plc (DEO), Endo International plc (ENDP), Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI), HDFC Bank (HDB), Horizon Pharma plc (HZNP), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Mohawk Industries (MHK), Charles Schwab (SCHW), and W R Grace (GRA): These are very small (less than ~1.5% of the portfolio each) positions that were increased this quarter. The sizing is still too small to indicate a clear bias.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~9.8% of HZNP.Kept Steady:TransDigm Group (TDG), Barclays Bank plc (BCS) Puts and Proshares Ultra VIX Short Term Puts: These positions were kept steady during the quarter. TDG and VIX Short Term Puts are ~2% stakes while BCS Puts is a very minor ~0.5% position.Note: Lone Pine Capital controls ~4.1% of TransDigm Group.The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Mandel’s US stock holdings in Q3 2015:"