Stanley Druckenmiller, Ken Griffin, and Cathie Wood Have at Least 1 Thing in Common: They All Own This Stock
Billionaires and highly successful hedge fund managers have proven their market expertise, though they don’t always agree on stock picks. For example, one person may go all in on a particular player at a given time, while another might sell all their shares in that company. This happens regularly, as every investor has a unique strategy and investing horizon — so various vastly different moves could deliver a win. This is excellent news because it means there isn’t just one road to success or a limited number of smart investing moves.
But, on some occasions, great minds think alike. And this happens to be the case right now when we look into the portfolios of Stanley Druckenmiller of the Duquesne Family Office, Ken Griffin of Citadel Advisors, and Cathie Wood of Ark Invest. These three famous investors have at least one thing in common: They all own the following stock.
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Druckenmiller’s investing success
So, first, let’s take a quick look at each of these top investors. Druckenmiller led Duquesne Capital Management to 30 years of success, with a 30% average annual return, and after retiring several years ago, continued to manage money at his family office. Today, he oversees $5.2 billion in 13F securities and invests heavily in technology and healthcare. (Managers of more than $100 million must report their moves quarterly to regulators on Form 13F, offering us a glimpse into their strategies.)
Ken Griffin, at the helm of Citadel, oversees $875 billion in 13F securities, and when it comes to equities, he is known for his “market-neutral” approach, pursuing the strongest possible performance throughout market environments. Griffin invests a great deal in financial and technology stocks, but he also has significant positions in healthcare players.
Cathie Wood, chief of Ark Invest, favors investing in tomorrow’s winners today, so she focuses on innovators as early as possible in their story. Ark oversees $15 billion in 13F securities and favors tech and healthcare stocks.
Now, let’s consider the common holding of these three investing giants. The stock I’m referring to is Eli Lilly (LLY -1.64%), maker of one of the most sought-after pharma products today: weight-loss drugs.
The investors’ positions
- Stanley Druckenmiller opened a position in Eli Lilly in the second quarter, buying 12,380 shares. The holding represents 0.2% of his portfolio.
- Ken Griffin increased his Lilly position by more than 200% in the quarter and now owns 945,456 shares. The stock represents 0.1% of his portfolio.
- Wood holds 39,162 and 67,402 Lilly shares in her Ark Innovation ETF and Ark Genomic Revolution ETF, respectively. They represent 0.4% and 3.4% of those portfolios, respectively.
So, these top investors clearly see eye-to-eye on one thing: Lilly is well-positioned to benefit from growth in the weight loss drug market. Why am I focused specifically on this area? After all, the company offers a broad portfolio of drugs across treatment areas.
A market heading for $100 billion
Lilly is the leader in the space, a market expected to reach nearly $100 billion by the end of the decade. The company’s top drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, together brought in more than $14 billion in revenue in the latest quarter, and demand continues to soar. On top of this, Lilly just launched its first weight loss pill a few months ago, and the company told CNBC that a third of new patients on oral GLP-1 drugs are taking it.
Finally, Lilly has a strong pipeline of weight loss candidates that could result in additional growth drivers down the road as this market develops. Meanwhile, as I said above, Lilly doesn’t depend on this market only. The company has a broad portfolio of drugs, in areas from neuroscience to oncology.
So Lilly offers these famous investors, as well as all of its shareholders, the fantastic combination of security — patients need their medicines, so this supports a certain level of revenue — and growth thanks to this weight loss drug leadership. All of this could equal significant returns over time for Druckenmiller, Griffin, Wood, and the retail investors who decide to follow their lead.