- Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates bought 27,066 shares of AMC stock
- Since March 31, the position has been cut almost in half
- Bridgewater also purchased shares of GameStop (NYSE:GME)
Shares of AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) are in full focus after prominent hedge fund manager Ray Dalio disclosed that Bridgewater Associates purchased 27,066 shares of AMC stock. AMC has plummeted by more than 50% since the year began.
May 16 marked the deadline for institutional investors to submit a Q1 13F filing to detail their positions as of March 31. As a result, investors are able to take a peek into the portfolios of these investors. Based on the March 31 closing price of AMC, Dalio’s bet was worth around $667,000. Today, his stake has been almost cut in half and is worth around $344,000.
Billionaire Ray Dalio Buys AMC Stock
Bridgewater is the world’s largest hedge fund. As of Q1, the fund had $235 billion in assets under management (AUM). The fund has an average holding period of 4.2 quarters, which suggests that it sees upside in AMC in the upcoming year.
However, AMC wasn’t the only meme stock Bridgewater added to its portfolio during Q1. The billion-dollar hedge fund also purchased 4,136 shares of GameStop (NYSE:GME), which were worth just under $689,000 as of March 31. Today, that stake is worth under $380,000.
Investors should note that Dalio’s GME and AMC stakes are very small when compared to the rest of Bridgewater’s portfolio. As a result, these investments are likely just speculative bets that Dalio can afford to lose. For context, Bridgewater’s top 10 positions are all worth between $680 million and $1 billion.
InvestorPlace writer Chris MacDonald adds, “Dalio and his team clearly know what they’re doing, and they seem to be operating with a different mindset than the overall market right now. Perhaps this strategy will yield better returns in the near term. We’ll see.”
Who Else Is Betting on AMC?
Tracking institutional ownership is important, as these large funds provide liquidity and price support for stocks. During Q1, 301 funds reported owning AMC, a decline of 33 funds from the prior quarter. Meanwhile, the institutional put/call ratio lies at 0.78. This signifies that more funds own call options against the company than put options. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the five largest shareholders of AMC:
- Vanguard Group: 47.38 million shares, or 9.23% ownership
- BlackRock (NYSE:BLK): 43.32 million shares, or 8.43% ownership
- State Street: 13.39 million shares, or 2.60% ownership
- D.E. Shaw & Company: 11.60 million shares, or 2.26% ownership
- Geode Capital Management: 9.23 million shares, or 1.79% ownership
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
