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Several hedge funds cut holdings in Big Tech names

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Bridgewater cuts Nvidia ( NVDA ) stake by nearly two-thirds

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Discovery Capital takes new positions in Alphabet,

Cleveland-Cliffs ( CLF ), health insurers

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Tiger Global and Lone Pine Capital reduce stake in Meta

By Anirban Sen

NEW YORK, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Wall Street's largest hedge

funds reduced exposure to "Magnificent Seven" stocks including

Nvidia ( NVDA ), Amazon ( AMZN ), Alphabet and Meta

in the third quarter, while taking new positions in

application software, e-commerce and payments companies,

according to regulatory filings on Friday.

During the quarter ended September 30, several funds also

reduced their exposure to prominent names in healthcare and

energy.

The latest positions marked a shift from the second quarter when

several leading stock-picking firms were much more bullish on

Big Tech names after witnessing a boom in artificial

intelligence valuations. Since then, those lofty valuations have

started to descend.

Markets were broadly up during the third quarter, with the

S&P 500 rising by nearly 8%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index

rose about 9% during the quarter.

Bonds also posted gains on expectations of monetary easing

that pushed benchmark 10-year yields down about seven basis

points. Yields decline when bond prices rise.

During the quarter, Bridgewater increased its stake in

Fiserv ( FISV ), and Discovery initiated a position in the

payments software firm. Both funds made their moves before

Fiserv ( FISV ) reported disappointing results and cut its revenue

guidance for the second consecutive quarter. The news led to its

market capitalization dropping about $30 billion in a single

day.

Bridgewater increased its exposure to sectors such as

application software and payments, as it upped its holdings in

Adobe, Dynatrace ( DT ) and Etsy ( ETSY ).

Lone Pine Capital and Tiger Global cut their stakes in

Facebook parent Meta Platforms ( META ) by 34.8% and 62.6% respectively,

while Bridgewater and Coatue were among the funds that reduced

their exposure to Nvidia ( NVDA ).

The latest positions were revealed in filings known as

13-Fs, which hedge funds and other institutional investors file

at the end of each quarter. While they are backward-looking and

do not reveal current holdings or short positions, the filings

offer investors a glimpse of the portfolios of often-secretive

funds.

Bridgewater, which enjoyed a stellar run during the first

nine months of the year as it outperformed its top peers,

slashed its stake in Nvidia ( NVDA ) by nearly two-thirds to 2.5 million

shares and in Alphabet by more than 50% to 2.65 million shares.

Discovery Capital, which was founded by Rob Citrone, took new

positions in names like Alphabet, steel maker Cleveland-Cliffs ( CLF )

, and health insurers Cigna ( CI ) and Elevance Health ( ELV )

.

Dmitry Balyasny's multi-strategy hedge fund Balyasny Asset

Management increased its stake several-fold in iPhone maker

Apple ( AAPL ).

Several changes at billionaire Philippe Laffont's Coatue

Management were around big AI names. The firm reduced its

holdings in AI industry bellwether Nvidia ( NVDA ) by 14.1% to 9.9

million shares, joining some other high-profile firms such as

Bridgewater and Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management which

have reduced their exposure to the company.

Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A ) revealed a $4.3 billion stake in Google

parent Alphabet and further reduced its stake in Apple ( AAPL ),

detailing its equity portfolio for the last time before Warren

Buffett ends his 60-year run as chief executive officer.

A Bridgewater spokesperson declined to comment on the fund's

latest positions. The other funds did not immediately respond to

requests for comment.