Elfun Trusts (Trades, Portfolio), part of Boston-based State Street Global Advisors, disclosed in a regulatory portfolio filing that its top six trades during the fourth quarter of 2022 included new holdings in Nvidia Corp. (NVDA, Financial), Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST, Financial) and Waste Management Inc. (WM, Financial) and the closure of its positions in Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD, Financial), SVB Financial Group (SIVB, Financial) and Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (APD, Financial).
Managed by William Sandow and Christopher Sierakowski, the fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in common and preferred stocks based on merits of the individual companies. The fund also seeks companies that have potential to pay dividends in the future.
As of December 2022, the fund’s $2.87 billion equity portfolio contains 40 stocks, with five new holdings and a quarterly turnover ratio of 11%. The top four sectors in terms of weight include technology, health care, financial services and industrials, which represent 24.35%, 18.25%, 17.66% and 8.75% of the eqiuty portfolio.
Investors should be aware that portfolio updates for mutual funds do not necessarily provide a complete picture of a guru’s holdings. The data is sourced from the quarterly updates on the website of the fund(s) in question. This usually consists of long equity positions in U.S. and foreign stocks. All numbers are as of the quarter’s end only; it is possible the guru may have already made changes to the positions after the quarter ended. However, even this limited data can provide valuable information.
Nvidia
The fund purchased 472,800 shares of Nvidia, allocating 2.41% of its equity portfolio to the position. Shares averaged $146.65 during the fourth quarter; the stock is modestly undervalued on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.89 as of Monday.
The Santa Clara, California-based graphic processing unit company has a GF Score of 96 out of 100 based on a rank of 10 out of 10 for profitability and growth, a financial strength rank of 8 out of 10, a GF Value rank of 7 out of 10 and a momentum rank of 5 out of 10.
Other gurus with holdings in Nvidia include Baillie Gifford (Trades, Portfolio) and Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio)’s Fisher Investments.
Costco Wholesale
The fund invested in 137,512 shares of Costo Wholesale (COST, Financial), giving the position 2.19% equity portfolio weight. Shares averaged $488.67 during the fourth quarter; the stock is fairly valued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of approximately 1 as of Monday.
The Issaquah, Washington-based wholesale retail company has a GF Score of 93 out of 100 based on a growth rank of 10 out of 10, a profitability rank of 9 out of 10, a financial strength rank of 8 out of 10, a GF Value rank of 6 out of 10 and a momentum rank of 5 out of 10.
Other gurus with holdings in Costco include Fisher Investments and Bridgewater Associates.
Waste Management
The fund invested in 333,500 shares of Waste Management (WM, Financial), giving the position 1.82% equity portfolio weight. Shares averaged $160.91 during the fourth quarter; the stock is fairly valued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.91 as of Monday.
The Houston-based waste service company has a GF Score of 91 out of 100 based on a rank of 9 out of 10 for profitability and growth, a momentum rank of 10 out of 10, a GF Value rank of 7 out of 10 and a financial strength rank of 4 out of 10.
Advanced Micro Devices
The fund sold all 881,900 shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Financial), trimming 2.05% of its equity portfolio. Shares averaged $66.01 during the fourth quarter.
GuruFocus’ GF Value Line labeled the Santa Clara, California-based microchip company a possible value trap based on the company’s low price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.61 as of Monday and a modest momentum rank of 5 out of 10.
Despite the modest momentum rank, the company has a GF Score of 89 out of 100, driven by a rank of 9 out of 10 for growth and financial strength, a GF Value rank of 8 out of 10 and a profitability rank of 7 out of 10.
SVB Financial Group
The fund sold all 135,000 shares of SVB Financial Group (SVB), trimming 1.66% of its equity portfolio. Shares averaged $248.39 during the fourth quarter.
GuruFocus’ GF Value Line labeled the Santa Clara, California-based loan service company a possible value trap based on the company’s low price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.65 as of Monday, poor financial strength rank of 3 out of 10 and weak momentum rank of 2 out of 10.
Despite the low momentum and financial strength ranks, SVB Financial Group has a GF Score of 76 out of 100, driven by a growth rank of 9 out of 10, a GF Value rank of 8 out of 10 and a profitability rank of 6 out of 10.
Air Products & Chemicals
The fund sold all 163,300 shares of Air Products & Chemicals (APD, Financial), trimming 1.39% of its equity portfolio.
Shares of Air Products & Chemicals averaged $281.79 during the fourth quarter; the stock is modestly undervalued based on its price-to-GF Value ratio of 0.80 as of Monday.
The Allentown, Pennsylvania-based gas supplier has a GF Score of 89 out of 100 based on a GF Value rank of 9 out of 10, a rank of 8 out of 10 for profitability and growth, and a rank of 6 out of 10 for financial strength and momentum.
