"Tracking Ruane, Cunniff, & Goldfarb’s Portfolio – Q3 2020 Update"
"Ruane, Cunniff, & Goldfarb’s 13F portfolio value increased from $7.46B to $8.40B this quarter. The number of positions decreased from 37 to 35.They added Intercontinental Exchange and Fidelity National Information Services while decreasing Amazon.com, Alphabet, and Wayfair.The top three positions are Alphabet, Wayfair, and CarMax and they add up to ~27% of the portfolio.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb’s 13F portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on their regulatory  filed on 11/16/2020. Please visit our  article for an idea on their investment philosophy and our  for the moves during Q2 2020.This quarter Ruane, Cunniff, & Goldfarb’s 13F portfolio value increased ~13% from $7.46B to $8.40B. The number of holdings decreased from 37 to 35. 20 of those stakes are significantly large (more than ~0.5% of the portfolio each) and they are the focus of this article. The top three positions are at ~27% while the top five are at ~41% of the 13F assets: Alphabet, Wayfair, CarMax, Facebook, and UnitedHealth.The firm is best known as the investment advisor of the Sequoia Fund (SEQUX) which has a venerable ~50-year track record (July 15, 1970 inception, 13.54% annualized return compared to 10.99% for the S&P 500 index). After new management took over in Q1 2016, the portfolio has seen a significant shift to information & services businesses from asset-intensive manufacturing & retail. Also, the cash allocation which had averaged ~20% since inception is now just ~2%. The following significant stakes in Sequoia’s portfolio are not in the 13F report as they are not 13F securities: Constellation Software (CNSWF), Rolls-Royce Holdings plc (RYCEY), Vivendi (VIVHY), Hiscox Limited (HCXLF), a2Milk, Eurofin Scientific (ERFSF), Prosus NV (PROSY), and Melrose Industries plc (MLSPF). Bill Ruane was a Benjamin Graham pupil. To learn about Benjamin Graham's teachings, check out the classics  and .Stake Disposals:None.New Stakes:Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and Fidelity National Information Services (FIS): These are the two new positions this quarter. The 4.15% ICE stake was purchased at prices between ~$92 and ~$107 and the stock currently trades at ~$109. FIS is a 3.42% of the portfolio position established at prices between ~$134 and ~$156 and it is now at ~$148.Stake Increases:UnitedHealth (UNH): The top five 6.85% UNH position was established in Q4 2019 at prices between $215 and $296 and increased by ~300% next quarter at prices between ~$195 and ~$305. This quarter saw a ~30% stake increase at prices between ~$291 and ~$324. The stock currently trades at ~$337.Credit Acceptance Corp. (CACC): CACC is a large 5.21% stake established in Q1 2017 at prices between $185 and $221. The stock is now at ~$334. There was a ~7% stake increase this quarter.Note: They have a ~6.5% ownership stake in Credit Acceptance Corp.Formula One Group (FWONA) (FWONK): Sequoia’s Q4 2016 letter disclosed a new stake in Liberty Media Formula One. They participated in Liberty’s acquisition of Formula One and acquired the shares at a discounted price of $25. There was a 24% stake increase in Q2 2017 at prices between $30.50 and $37. The stock is now at $42.80 and the stake is at 4.70% of the portfolio. The six quarters thru Q3 2019 had seen a ~18% selling at prices between $28.50 and $43 and that was followed with similar selling next quarter at prices between $40 and $46. Last three quarters have seen only minor adjustments.Stake Decreases:Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) (GOOGL): GOOG is the largest 13F stake at ~12% of the portfolio. It was first purchased in 2008 and that original stake was almost sold out the following year. In 2010, a much larger position was built in the mid-200s price-range. Recent activity follows: Q2 2019 saw a one-third reduction at prices between $1036 and $1288. That was followed with a similar reduction over the last four quarters at prices between ~$1057 and ~$1728. The stock currently trades at ~$1782.Wayfair Inc. (W): W is a top three ~8% of the 13F portfolio stake purchased in Q3 2019 at prices between $106 and $152. Next quarter saw a ~40% stake increase at prices between $80 and $118. That was followed with another ~30% increase in Q1 2020 at prices between ~$24 and ~$110. Last two quarters have seen a ~55% selling at prices between ~$47 and ~$342. The stock currently trades at ~$244.Note: Wayfair has seen a previous roundtrip. It was a very small 0.76% of the portfolio position purchased in Q1 2019 at prices between $85 and $172 and disposed next quarter at prices between $138 and $164.CarMax Inc. (KMX): KMX is a top three 7.20% of the portfolio position. It was purchased in Q2 2016 at prices between $46 and $56 and increased by ~70% in Q4 2016 at prices between $48.50 and $66. Q4 2017 saw a ~30% selling at prices between $64 and $77 while next quarter there was a ~80% increase at prices between $59 and $72. Last ten quarters have seen a ~45% selling at prices between ~$44 and ~$109. The stock is now at ~$94.Facebook Inc. (FB): The FB position saw a whopping ~600% stake increase in Q1 2018 at prices between $152 and $193. The next two quarters had seen another ~27% increase at prices between $155 and $218. Q1 2019 saw an about turn: ~23% reduction at prices between $124 and $173. The stock currently trades at ~$274 and the stake is at ~7% of the portfolio.  Last few quarters have seen only minor adjustments.Taiwan Semi (TSM): The 6.51% of the portfolio TSM stake was purchased in Q4 2019 at prices between $46.50 and $59. There was a ~130% stake increase last quarter at around the same price range. The stock currently trades at ~$104. This quarter saw minor trimming.Liberty Broadband (LBRDK): LBRDK is a 5.36% of the portfolio position purchased in Q1 2018 at prices between $86 and $97 and increased by ~20% next quarter at prices between $69 and $85. Q1 2020 saw a ~18% reduction at prices between ~$91 and ~$139. The stock currently trades at ~$162. Last two quarters have seen minor trimming.Arista Networks (ANET): The large 4.80% ANET stake was primarily built in Q4 2019 at prices between $185 and $249. The stock currently trades at ~$277. There was minor trimming over the last two quarters.Jacobs Engineering Group (J): J is a 4.55% long-term stake first purchased in 2012. Recent activity follows: Q2 2018 saw a ~20% increase at prices between $56.50 and $67 while the next six quarters saw minor trimming. There was a ~25% selling in Q1 2020 at prices between ~$63 and ~$104. The stock currently trades at ~$109. Last two quarters have seen minor trimming.Charles Schwab (SCHW): SCHW is a 4.14% portfolio stake purchased in Q2 2016 at a cost-basis of ~$29. Q1 2020 saw a ~40% stake increase at prices between $28.50 and $49. The stock is now at $49.43. There was a ~17% selling last quarter at prices between $32.50 and $43. This quarter saw a ~2% trimming.Walt Disney (DIS): DIS is a fairly large 4.12% of the portfolio position established last quarter at prices between $94 and $127 and the stock currently trades at ~$176. There was a minor ~2% trimming this quarter.MasterCard Inc. (MA): MA is a ~4% of the portfolio stake established soon after its IPO in 2006 at a split-adjusted cost-basis of $4.50 per share. The original position was huge at ~2.4M shares (24M shares after accounting for the 10-for-1 stock-split in 2014). It was sold down by ~72% over the next two years. Recent activity follows: Last two quarters had seen a one-third selling at prices between ~$203 and ~$345. The stock currently trades at ~$327. There was marginal trimming this quarter.Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B): Berkshire stake is now at 6.60% of the portfolio. It is a very long-term position that was already their largest stake in their first 13F filing in 1999. Recent activity follows:  Q1 2018 saw a one-third selling at prices between $191 and $217. Last four quarters have seen another ~50% reduction at prices between ~$162 and ~$230. The stock is now at ~$226.Visa Inc. (V): Visa is a now a small 1.26% of the portfolio stake. It is a very long-term position first purchased soon after the IPO in 2008. The position was sold down consistently since Q1 2018. That quarter saw a ~30% selling at prices between $114 and $126 and that was followed with a ~22% selling in Q3 2018 at prices between $131 and $151. Q3 2019 saw another ~40% selling at prices between $169 and $186. There was a ~36% selling over the last three quarters at prices between ~$136 and ~$217. The stock is now at ~$206.Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN): AMZN stake was established in Q4 2016 at prices between $719 and $845. Q4 2017 saw the position almost doubled at prices between $957 and $1196. At the time, it was a top three stake at ~8% of the portfolio. It had seen selling since 2018. Recent activity follows: The two quarters thru Q1 2020 saw a ~45% reduction at prices between ~$1705 and ~$2170. The remaining position was almost sold out this quarter at prices between ~$2880 and ~$3531. The stock is currently at ~$3116.Kept Steady:None.The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Ruane, Cunniff, & Goldfarb’s 13F stock holdings in Q3 2020:Quarterly Factsheet, and Q2 2020 Letter: Performance: 27.21% for Q2 2020 vs 20.54% for the index. 13.42% vs 10.86% since 1970 inception. Cash: ~5%. Increased: Walt Disney, UnitedHealth, Taiwan Semi, Vivendi, Arista, Hiscox, Rolls-Royce, Schwab, Credit Acceptance, Liberty Media, and Eurofins Scientific. Trimmed: Amazon, Booking, Berkshire, Wayfair, Alphabet, MasterCard, Jacobs, CarMax, Liberty Broadband, Constellation Software, and Prosus. Sold: None. New: None.Regulatory filings thru 9/12/2020: None."