This article is part of a series that provides an ongoing analysis of the changes made to Bridgewater Associates’ 13F portfolio on a quarterly basis. It is based on their regulatory 13F Form filed on 5/15/2024. Please visit our Tracking Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates 13F Portfolio series to get an idea of their investment philosophy and our previous update for the fund’s moves during Q4 2023.
Assets Under Management (AUM) is at around $150B. The 13F portfolio is less than ~20% of their total AUM. This quarter, the 13F portfolio value increased from ~$17.86B to ~$19.78B. The holdings are diversified with recent reports showing around 1000 different stakes. Around 42 of them are significantly large (more than ~0.5% of the 13F portfolio) and they are the focus of this article. The top three individual stock positions are at ~11% while the top five holdings are close to ~16% of the 13F assets: Alphabet, Procter & Gamble, Nvidia, Meta Platforms, and Johnson & Johnson.
Note 1: The firm uses asset class diversification among uncorrelated positions to achieve absolute returns. As such the stakes can be on or against debt, equity, and other markets around the world. To learn more about their unique investment philosophy, check out their video channel and Ray Dalio’s books.
Note 2: Ray Dalio is a Sinophile whose fascination for China goes back to 1984.
New Stakes:
Amazon.com (AMZN) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): The ~1% of the portfolio AMZN position was established at prices between ~$145 and ~$180. The stock currently trades at ~$179. AMD is a 0.62% stake established this quarter at prices between ~$135 and ~$211. The stock is now at ~$167.
Stake Increases:
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG): The 4.10% stake in GOOG saw a ~210% increase during Q1 2023 at prices between ~$87 and ~$109. There was a ~15% trimming next quarter and that was followed by a ~20% reduction during Q3 2023 at prices between ~$117 and ~$139. The last quarter saw a ~30% stake increase at prices between ~$123 and ~$143. The position was increased by 163% this quarter at prices between~ $133 and $~155. The stock currently trades at ~$174.
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA): The 3.22% NVDA position was increased by 162% this quarter at prices between ~$476 and ~$950. The stake was established last quarter at prices between ~$403 and ~$505. The stock currently trades at ~$1105.
Meta Platforms (META): META is a 2.44% of the portfolio stake that was increased by 49% this quarter at prices between ~$344 and ~$512. The stock is now at ~$467.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): The 2.27% JNJ stake was a small position in their first 13F filing in Q4 2005. The stake has wavered. The current position was built during the four quarters through Q2 2021 at prices between ~$137 and ~$171. The two quarters through Q1 2022 had seen a ~55% stake increase at prices between ~$155 and ~$180. Q4 2022 saw a ~25% selling at prices between ~$160 and ~$180. The two quarters through Q3 2023 saw another ~25% reduction at prices between ~$151 and ~$175. The stock currently trades at ~$145. There were minor ~2% increases in the last two quarters.
Apple Inc. (AAPL), Comcast Corp (CMCSA), Fiserv Inc. (FI), Merck Inc. (MRK), Microsoft Corp (MSFT), Mastercard Inc. (MA), PayPal Holdings (PYPL), Target Corp (TGT), and Uber Technologies (UBER): These positions (less than ~1.6% of the portfolio each) were increased during the quarter.
Stake Decreases:
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV): A fairly large stake in IVV was built during the 2017-2018 timeframe at prices between ~$245 and ~$295. It was sold down during the two quarters through Q1 2021 at prices between ~$325 and ~$400. The seven quarters through Q4 2022 had seen the stake rebuilt at prices between ~$359 and ~$477. The stock is now at ~$525 and the stake is the largest 13F position at 5.57% of the portfolio. There was a ~11% trimming during Q1 2023 and a ~15% increase over the last three quarters. There was marginal trimming this quarter.
Note: a much smaller stake in IVV was part of the portfolio during the 2012-16 timeframe.
iShares MSCI Core Em Mkt ETF (IEMG): The large 4.87% IEMG stake was first purchased in 2016. Recent activity follows. Q3 2021 saw a ~225% stake increase at prices between ~$61 and ~$67. That was followed with a stake doubling in Q1 2022 at prices between ~$51 and ~$62. Q1 2023 also saw a ~22% increase at prices between ~$46 and ~$52. IEMG currently trades at ~$53. The last two quarters saw a ~10% trimming. There was marginal trimming this quarter.
Procter & Gamble (PG): PG is currently the second largest individual stock position at 337% of the portfolio. It was established in H2 2020 at prices between ~$120 and ~$144. H1 2021 saw a ~80% stake increase at prices between ~$124 and ~$139. The two quarters through Q1 2022 also saw a ~45% increase at prices between ~$139 and ~$164. Q4 2022 saw a ~25% reduction at prices between ~$124 and ~$154. The stake was decreased by 12% this quarter at prices between ~$146 and ~$162. The stock currently trades at ~$163.
Walmart Stores (WMT): The 2.24% WMT position was purchased during the four quarters through Q2 2021 at prices between ~$40 and ~$51. Q4 2021 saw the stake sold down by ~45% at prices between ~$45 and ~$50. H1 2022 had seen a two-thirds increase at prices between ~$39 and ~$53. The four quarters through Q2 2023 saw a ~48% selling at prices between ~$41 and ~$52. The next quarter saw a ~5% increase while the last two quarters saw minor trimming. The stock is now at ~$65.
Note: The prices quoted above are adjusted for the 3-for-1 stock split in February.
Costco Wholesale (COST): The ~2% of the portfolio COST stake was built during the four quarters through Q2 2021 at prices between ~$305 and ~$395. There was a ~30% stake increase in Q1 2022 at prices between ~$477 and ~$577. Q4 2022 saw a ~22% reduction at prices between ~$453 and ~$540. That was followed with a ~15% trimming during H1 2023. The last quarter saw another ~17% selling. The stake was decreased by 22% this quarter at prices between ~$643 and ~$784. The stock currently trades at ~$815. They are harvesting gains.
Coca-Cola (KO): The four quarters through Q2 2021 saw a ~8.2M shares KO stake built at prices between ~$45 and ~$56. That was followed with a ~40% stake increase in Q1 2022 at prices between ~$58 and ~$63. There was a ~25% selling during Q4 2022 at prices between ~$54 and ~$64. The stake was decreased by 21% this quarter at prices between ~$58 and ~$61. The stock currently trades at ~$62, and the stake is at ~2% of the portfolio.
Note: A Much smaller stake in this position was part of the portfolio during the decade through 2016.
PepsiCo (PEP): The four quarters through Q2 2021 saw a 2.7M shares stake built at prices between ~$129 and ~$148. That was followed with a ~55% stake increase over the two quarters through Q1 2022 at prices between ~$150 and ~$176. There was a ~25% reduction during Q4 2022 at prices between ~$160 and ~$186. The stake was decreased by 12% this quarter at prices between $162.04 and $175.01. The stock is now at ~$171 and the stake is at 1.89% of the portfolio.
Note: A Much smaller stake in this position was part of the portfolio during the decade through 2016.
SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY): A small position in SPY was first established in Q1 2006. An amended filing in Q4 2007 showed a huge 40% of the 13F portfolio stake (~12M shares) established in the high 140s price-range. The position size peaked at ~21M shares by 2011. The decade through 2020 had seen the position reduced to 3.7M shares through minor selling in most quarters. H1 2021 saw another ~45% reduction at prices between ~$370 and ~$430. That was followed with a ~20% selling during Q3 2022 at prices between ~$357 and ~$430. There was a further ~16% reduction during Q2 2023 at prices between ~$404 and ~$443. The stake was decreased by ~30% in the last two quarters at prices between ~$411 and ~$523. SPY now trades at ~$523 and the stake is at 1.89% of the portfolio.
Visa Inc. (V): The 1.33% Visa stake saw a ~18% increase during Q1 2023 at prices between ~$207 and ~$231. Q3 2023 saw a ~16% trimming while in the last quarter there was a ~28% stake increase at prices between ~$229 and ~$262. The stake was decreased by 13% this quarter at prices between ~$257 and ~$290. The stock is now at ~$271.
CVS Health (CVS): CVS is a ~1% of the portfolio stake primarily built during Q2 2022 at prices between ~$89 and ~$107. There was a ~20% trimming over the two quarters through Q1 2023. The last three quarters saw a similar increase. The stake was decreased by 20% this quarter at prices between $71.30 and $79.91. The stock currently trades at ~$56.
Starbucks Corp (SBUX): The 0.90% SBUX stake was built during the four quarters through Q2 2021 at prices between ~$74 and ~$118. The two quarters through Q1 2022 saw another ~45% stake increase at prices between ~$79 and ~$117. There was a ~18% trimming over the two quarters through Q1 2023. Q2 2023 saw a ~9% increase while the last two quarters saw a similar reduction. The stake was decreased by 19% this quarter at prices between $89.44 and $96.57. The stock currently trades at ~$79.
Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Booking Holdings (BKNG), Boston Scientific (BSX), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Eli Lilly (LLY), HCA Healthcare (HCA), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), McDonald's Corp (MCD), McKesson Corp (MCK), Mondelez International (MDLZ), PDD Holdings (PDD), Stryker Corp (SYK), The Cigna Group (CI), Veeva Systems (VEEV), and Vanguard FTSE Em Mkt ETF (VWO): These positions (less than ~1.75% of the portfolio each) were reduced this quarter.
The spreadsheet below highlights changes to Bridgewater Associates’ 13F holdings in Q1 2024:
Source: John Vincent. Data constructed from Bridgewater Associates’ 13F filings for Q4 2023 and Q1 2024.
John Vincent
Focused on analyzing 13F reports & building tools to help DIY investors generate absolute returnsthrough exploiting inefficiency, volatility, and momentum.
Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of GOOGL, META, AAPL, AMZN, PYPL either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
