Viking Global Reduces Illumina, Mohawk Industries Stakes

Andreas Halvorsen's hedge fund Viking Global has filed two separate 13G's with the SEC regarding some of their positions.


Reduces Illumina Stake

First, Viking has disclosed they now own 5.8% of Illumina (ILMN) with over 8.18 million shares.  This is a decrease of 461,081 shares since the end of the third quarter.  The filing was made due to portfolio activity on January 2nd.

Per Google Finance, Illumina is "a developer and manufacturer of life science tools and integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and function. The Company is organized in two business segments: Life Sciences and Diagnostics. Its Life Sciences business unit includes all products and services related to the research market, namely the product lines based on its sequencing, BeadArray, VeraCode, and real-time PCR technologies. Its Diagnostics business unit focuses on molecular diagnostics. Its customers include genomic research centers, academic institutions, government laboratories, and clinical research organizations, as well as pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agrigenomics, and consumer genomics companies."









Cuts Mohawk Industries Position

Second, the hedge fund firm has revealed they own 5.5% of Mohawk Industries (MHK) with over 4 million shares.  They've reduced their position by over 1.63 million shares since the end of the third quarter.  The filing was required due to activity on January 2nd.

Per Google Finance, Mohawk Industries is "a flooring manufacturer. The Company's manufacturing and distribution processes provide carpet, rugs, ceramic tile, laminate, wood, stone and vinyl flooring. The Company's key brands include American Olean, Bigelow, Daltile, Durkan, Karastan, Kerama Marazzi, Lees, Marazzi, Mohawk, Pergo, Quick-Step and Unilin. The Company has three reporting segments: the Carpet segment, the Ceramic segment and the Laminate and Wood segment. The Carpet segment designs, manufactures, sources, distributes and markets its carpet and rug products. The Carpet segment also markets and distributes ceramic tile, laminate, hardwood, resilient floor covering, carpet pad and flooring accessories. The Ceramic segment designs, manufactures, sources, distributes and markets ceramic tile, porcelain tile and natural stone products. The Laminate and Wood segment designs, manufactures, sources, licenses, distributes and markets laminate and hardwood flooring."

We've also highlighted some other recent portfolio activity from Viking Global here.

Viking Global Boosts Illumina Holdings

Andreas Halvorsen's hedge fund firm Viking Global filed a 13G with the SEC regarding their stake in Illumina (ILMN).  Per the filing, Viking has disclosed a 5.5% ownership stake in Illumina with over 7.1 million shares.

This marks an increase of over 5.4 million shares since the end of 2013.  The filing was made due to activity on February 28th.  Since the beginning of 2014, ILMN shares have spiked higher from $110 to $167 currently.

For more on this manager, check out a rare interview with Andreas Halvorsen on investment process.

Per Google Finance, Illumina is "a developer and manufacturer of life science tools and integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and function. The Company provides a line of genetic analysis solutions, with products and services that serve a range of interconnected markets, including sequencing, genotyping, gene expression, and molecular diagnostics. The Company is organized in two business segments: Life Sciences and Diagnostics. Its Life Sciences business unit includes all products and services related to the research market, namely the product lines based on its sequencing, BeadArray, VeraCode, and real-time PCR technologies. Its Diagnostics business unit focuses on molecular diagnostics. In February 2014, Illumina, Inc. announced that Novogene purchased one HiSeq X Ten. In March 2014, WuXi Genome Center has purchased Illumina HiSeq X Ten sequencing system."

Long Illumina (ILMN)

Yesterday on twitter, I "tweeted" that I was most likely going to get long Illumina (ILMN), and that's exactly what I did. If you haven't noticed, there's been a big rotation into healthcare/biotech/biosci companies as of late. I already have exposure to this somewhat through Gilead (GILD), Biiogen (BIIB), and Thermo Fisher (TMO). But, the positions are smaller relative to my overall portfolio. So, I wanted to increase my exposure there while still maintaining diversification in the various health/bio sectors. In this market, you play what's working. Taken from Google Finance,

"Illumina, Inc. develops, manufactures and markets integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and biological function. Using its technologies, the Company provides a line of products and services that serve the sequencing, genotyping and gene expression markets. The Company’s customers include genomic research centers, pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, clinical research organizations and biotechnology companies. Its tools provide researchers with the capability to perform genetic tests needed to extract medical information from advances in genomics and proteomics."

Straight up, ILMN scares me. I'm not kidding. Its valuation is ridiculous and borderline insane. It has a trailing PE of nearly 160 and a forward PE of 41. But, this name continues to cruise higher and has had me interested for a while. So, we finally got a pullback to support and I pulled the trigger. I am keeping a very tight stop on this name for fear that it could have its head chopped off at any minute due to its sky high valuation.

(click to enlarge)

As you can see from the chart above, ILMN has pulled back from $90 to around $82 or so in an orderly fashion. That 82 level has served as a nice little area of support recently so I figured to start my buying here. The main level of support I'm concerned with though is below that at $80. As you can see, ILMN bumped up against 80 from April til early June as that area was extreme resistance. Now that ILMN has blown past that resistance, I am ultimately looking for the re-test of this area as it now should be support. At that level I will add handsomely to my position. The $80 level is also key simply because it is also right below the 50 day moving average and serves as my stop loss. If it cannot hold this big area of support, it is going lower and I want out fast. Again, the valuation scares me and it could come crashing down with no explanation. I want in this name for fundamental reasons (not valuation though!) because the company is really progressing and gaining a lot of attention/support. But, in this increasingly volatile market, you've got to really make sure you're focusing on risk management. Managing your risk/reward is half the game in this whacky market. The chart has presented me with a clear exit plan and I'm comfortable getting into this name because the price action is pretty crisp and I've got a clear gameplan to manage my risk.

So, I'm in with my initial position at $83.xx and a big order around $80 and a very tight stop below that at $79. This is not a trade, it is an investment. It simply looks like a trade due to the very tight stop I have on it due to lofty valuations and a volatile market. People who are just buying and holding in this market are most likely getting slaughtered. You've got to adapt and maneuver around positions to ensure you're at the very least preserving capital, if not growing it.

Long ILMN.