"Tracking Al Gore's Generation Investment Management Portfolio – Q3 2017 Update"
"Generation Investment Management portfolio value increased from $9.8B to $10.41B this quarter.They added Visa and substantially increased Charles Schwab, JD.com, & Chipotle.The top three positions are Cerner, Acuity Brands, and Microsoft and they add up to ~23% of the entire portfolio.This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Generation Investment Management’s US stock portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on Al Gore’s regulatory  filed on 11/14/2017. Please visit our  Portfolio series to get an idea of their investment philosophy and the fund’s moves in Q2 2017.This quarter, Al Gore’s 13F portfolio value increased ~6% from $9.82B to $10.41B this quarter. The number of positions increased from 33 to 34. The largest five stakes are Cerner Corporation, Acuity Brands, Microsoft Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Jones Lang LaSalle and they together account for about one-third of the total portfolio value.Generation Investment Management’s  and Al Gore’s  are good precursors for anyone interested in investing based on sustainability analysis.New Stakes:Visa Inc. (V) and Texas Instruments (TXN): These are the two new positions this quarter. Visa is a 2.42% portfolio stake purchased at prices between $93 and $106 and the stock currently trades at $112. TXN is a minutely small 0.23% position purchased this quarter.Stake Disposals:Banco Santander Chile (BSAC): The very small ~1% portfolio position in BSAC was disposed this quarter.Stake Increases:Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL): JLL is a top-five 5.15% long-term position first purchased in 2008. By 2013, that original position was doubled to a fairly large ~5% stake thru consistent buying every year. The next two years saw selling: ~75% overall reduction at prices between $103 and $178. The pattern reversed in H1 2016: ~200% increase at prices between $96 and $141. H2 2016 also saw a ~50% stake increase at prices between $91 and $120. That was followed with a ~30% increase last quarter at prices between $103 and $125. The stock currently trades at $150. There was a marginal increase this quarter.Note: Generation IM controls 9.6% of the business.Charles Schwab (SCHW): SCHW is a 4.30% portfolio position. Last quarter saw a two-thirds increase at prices between $37.50 and $43 and that was followed with a ~40% increase this quarter at around the same price range. The stake is from Q4 2016 at prices between $31 and $40.50. The stock is now at $45.78.Note: SCHW has seen a previous round-trip. A large ~7.2M share stake purchased in 2013 in the high-teens price-range was disposed the following year at much higher prices.Sensata Technologies (ST): The bulk of the 3.52% ST position was purchased in Q2 2016 at prices between $33.50 and $39. Last quarter saw a two-thirds increase at prices between $39 and $43.50 and that was followed with a ~12% increase this quarter. The stock currently goes for $48.84.JD.com (JD): The JD purchase in 2014 was in the low-20s. Last two quarters had seen a combined ~40% selling at prices between $25.50 and $43. There was an about turn this quarter: ~73% increase at prices between $38 and $48. The stock is now at $39.21.Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG): CMG is a 2.75% stake established in Q4 2016 at prices between $360 and $438 and increased by ~53% this quarter at prices between $297 and $417. The stock currently trades below those ranges at $279.Dentsply Sirono (XRAY): XRAY is a 2.40% portfolio stake built in 2014 at prices between $44 and $56. 2015 saw a ~10% stake increase while last year saw a similar reduction. There was a ~20% selling in Q1 2017 at prices between $55.50 and $64.50 and the stock is now at $67.51. This quarter saw a ~43% increase at prices between $52.50 and $65.Credicorp Ltd. (BAP): BAP is a 2.14% of the portfolio position established last quarter at prices between $152 and $183 and increased by ~22% this quarter at prices between $179 and $213. It is now at $214.Henry Schein (HSIC): The small 1.31% HSIC stake saw a ~28% increase this quarter at prices between $79 and $93. The stock is now below that range at $69.97.Note 1: Regulatory Filings since the quarter ended show them owning 8M shares of HSIC (5.1% of the business). This is compared to 1.67M shares in the 13F. For investors attempting to follow Generation IM, HSIC is a good option to consider for further research.Note 2: HSIC stock split 2-for-1 in September.Stake Decreases:Cerner Corporation (CERN): CERN is currently the largest position at 11.80% of the portfolio. The stake was established in 2015 and doubled in Q1 2016 at prices between $52 and $60. Q4 2016 also saw another ~50% stake increase at prices between $47 and $62. The stock currently trades above those ranges at $70.57. There was a marginal reduction this quarter.Note: Generation IM controls 5.2% of CERN.Acuity Brands (AYI): AYI is a top three 5.51% of the portfolio stake purchased in Q1 2017 at prices between $199 and $240 and increased by ~85% last quarter at prices between $163 and $204. The stock is now below those ranges at $158. This quarter saw marginal selling.Note: Generation IM controls 8% of AYI.Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): MSFT is a top three 5.48% portfolio position. The stake saw a ~50% selling last quarter at prices between $65 and $72.50. The position was first purchased in 2014 and more than doubled the following year at prices between $36 and $56. The stock is now at $83.26. Generation IM is harvesting long-term gains. There was a very minor reduction this quarter.Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO): TMO is a top five 5.29% portfolio position first purchased in Q3 2016 and more than doubled the following quarter at prices between $141 and $159. Last quarter saw another ~20% increase at prices between $152 and $176. The stock currently goes for $194. This quarter saw very minor trimming.MasterCard Inc. (MA): MA is large ~5% stake built in H1 2016 in the low-90s price-range. Q4 2016 also saw a one-third increase at prices between $100 and $107. The stock is now well above that range at $153. This quarter saw a ~7% trimming.Facebook Inc. (FB): FB is a ~4% portfolio stake purchased in Q4 2016 at prices between $115 and $133. The following quarter saw a ~23% increase at prices between $115 and $143. The stock is now well above those ranges at $183. This quarter saw marginal trimming.Deere & Co. (DE): DE is a fairly large 3.78% stake. The position is from 2015 at prices between $75 and $97. There was a ~40% reduction in Q1 2017 at prices between $103 and $111 and that was followed with a ~20% selling over the last two quarters at prices between $107 and $132. The stock is now at $146.Becton Dickinson (BDX): BDX is a 3.73% long-term position that has been in the portfolio since their first 13F filing in 2006. The position saw a two-thirds increase last quarter at prices between $177 and $195 and the stock is now at $226. There was a marginal trimming this quarter.Delphi Automotive (DLPH): The 3.45% DLPH position saw a ~60% increase last quarter at prices between $74 and $89. The original position is from Q4 2016 at prices between $63 and $72. Q1 2017 had seen a ~28% selling at prices between $67 and $82. The stock currently trades at $101. This quarter saw a marginal reduction.Ingersoll-Rand plc (IR): IR is a 3.11% portfolio position first purchased in 2015 at prices between $51 and $71. The stake saw a ~30% reduction last year at prices between $50.50 and $78.50 and that was followed with another ~50% selling this year at prices between $75 and $93. The stock is now at $84.23.Cooper Companies (COO): The bulk of the 2.85% position in COO was purchased in Q4 2016 at prices between $159 and $183 and the stock currently trades well above that range at $242. There was a marginal reduction this quarter.VWR Corp. (VWR): The 2.55% VWR position was first purchased in Q4 2016 at prices between $24.50 and $28.50. There was a ~17% increase in Q1 2017 at prices between $24.50 and $28.50. In May, Avantor agreed to buy VWR for $33.25 cash and the transaction closed this week. Generation IM controlled 6.1% of the business.Nike Inc. (NKE): NKE is a 2.47% of the portfolio stake built up over the last three years at prices between $38 and $67. There was a ~18% increase last quarter as well at prices between $51 and $59. The stock is now at $59.32. This quarter saw marginal selling.Alphabet Inc. (GOOG): The original position in GOOG was purchased in 2014 at prices between $510 and $610. The following year saw a large reduction but the position was built back up in H1 2016 at prices between $675 and $760. There was a ~55% selling last quarter at prices between $823 and $984. The stock is currently at $1041. There was marginal trimming this quarter.PayPal Holdings (PYPL): The ~2% PYPL stake was purchased last quarter at prices between $42.50 and $54.50 and reduced by ~27% this quarter at prices between $53 and $65. The stock currently trades at $78.57.Allegion Pub (ALLE), Amazon.com (AMZN), Ansys Inc. (ANSS), Infosys Ltd. (INFY), National Instruments Corp. (NATI), Salesforce.com (CRM), SPDR Trust (SPY), Taiwan Semi (TSM), and Waters Corp. (WAT): These are very small (less than ~1.5% of the portfolio each) positions that saw reductions this quarter.Kept Steady:None.Below is a spreadsheet that highlights the changes to Al Gore's Generation Investment Management US long stock portfolio as of Q3 2017:Regulatory Filings thru 8/24/2017: 13G – 6/9/2017 – JLL - 3.5M shares – 7.74% of business. 13G – 5/22/2017 – AYI – 2.6M shares – 5.92% of business. 13G/A – 2/14/2017 – VWR – 6.8M shares – 5.2% of business. 13G/A – 2/14/2017 – XRAY – 3.46M shares – 1.5% of business. 13G – 1/23/2017 – CERN – 17.2M shares – 5.1% of business. 13G – 2/17/2015 – WAT – 3.7M shares – 4.5% of business."