Vickers Stock Research, a subsidiary of Argus Research Group, analyzes insider trading and institutional stock ownership. Form 13Fs, which institutions must file to report their holdings, are due 45 days after the end of calendar quarters and have come in for 2Q24. We review 13Fs of major institutional investors, including activists, to see what they are buying and to look for trends. Activist investing is now less about generating a short-term return and more about achieving long-term returns through an active management/investor partnership. The stock-market volatility during 2Q gave those institutional investors a chance to buy a dip. Taking a look at the 13Fs from well-known institutional portfolios, we see that the big guns were busy, either adding new holdings or increasing existing holdings. Buying was across a variety of sectors. Based on Vickers data, the following are select purchases made in 2Q by some high-profile money managers. We also list one significant sale (of Apple by Berkshire) and also note if the holding is now 4% or more of the total portfolio.

Federated Hermes provides asset-management services for institutional and individual investors. The firm had $782.7 billion in managed assets at the end of June 2024, composed of equity (10%), multi-asset (less than 1%), fixed-income (12%), alternative (3%), and money market (75%) funds. The firm's cash-management operations are expected to generate around 50% of Federated's revenue this year, compared with 28%, 12%, and 10%, respectively, for the equity, fixed-income, and alternatives/multi-asset operations. The company's products are distributed via trust banks, wealth managers, and retail broker/dealers (64% of AUM), institutional investors (27%), and international clients (9%).

The Walt Disney Co. is a global entertainment company. The company owns and leverages well-known brands, ranging from Mickey Mouse and 'Frozen' to ESPN and ABC. Disney acquired the animated movie producer Pixar Animation Studios in 2006, comic book and movie producer Marvel Entertainment in 2010, 'Star Wars' originator Lucasfilm in 2012, streaming video technology platform BAMTech (now Disney Streaming Services) in 2017, the assets of 21st Century Fox in March 2019, most of Hulu in May 2019, and the final piece of Hulu in November, 2023. Disney derives 24% of its revenue from outside of North America and 12% from Europe.

Disney operates in three global business segments: entertainment, sports, and experiences. Entertainment and experiences both benefit from franchises and characters the firm has created over the course of a century. Entertainment includes the ABC broadcast network, several cable television networks, and the Disney+ and Hulu streaming services. Within the segment, Disney also engages in movie and television production and distribution, with content licensed to movie theaters, other content providers, or, increasingly, kept in-house for use on Disney’s own streaming platform and television networks. The sports segment houses ESPN and the ESPN+ streaming service. Experiences contains Disney’s theme parks and vacation destinations, and also benefits from merchandise licensing.