Glossary of 13F, 13D and Form 4

What each term we use means, in plain words.

concentrated managers

Investment firms, family offices and insurance holding companies whose SEC 13F portfolio has 5 to 100 stocks, at least 45% in the top 10 positions and low turnover. Operating companies, banks, foundations, pension funds and private equity are left out. It describes the shape of a portfolio: it does not mean they are better investors.

weight

The share of the manager's stock portfolio a position represents, per its 13F.

traded weight (pp)

The part of a weight change caused by the manager's buying or selling, excluding the effect of price moves. Measured in percentage points (pp).

materiality

How important a change is for the manager's portfolio: high, medium or low depending on the traded weight and position size.

conviction

How much a stock weighs in its holders' portfolios: a high weight means the manager is betting heavily on it.

consensus score

0–100 score with public rules: accumulation (40%), conviction (30%), net managers (20%) and breadth (10%). Only calculated with 5 or more concentrated managers. It ranks ideas to research; not a recommendation.

13F

Quarterly report required from managers with over $100M in U.S. stocks. It shows long positions at quarter end and is filed up to 45 days later.

13D / 13G

Filing by anyone crossing 5% of a company. A 13D is for investors seeking influence (activists), due within 5 business days; a 13G is for passive investors.

Form 4

Filing of purchases and sales by company officers, directors and large holders, within 2 business days.

implied price

Reported value ÷ number of shares across all managers' 13F filings at each quarter end. It is not a market quote.

CUSIP

9-character code identifying a security in SEC filings.

accumulation

Consecutive quarters in which the managers still holding a stock own, combined, more shares than the quarter before. It is a sum: one large buyer can flip it even if most holders trimmed.

held since

First quarter of a position's current run: since then it appears in every 13F of the manager without a break. If our history begins with the position already open, we say “since at least”. It does not say on what date it was bought: a 13F only shows the portfolio at each quarter end.

quarter-end prices of the buying quarters

For each position, the lowest and highest quarter-end price of the quarters in which the manager added shares (more than 1%, split-adjusted). The quarter-end price is reported value ÷ shares in the 13F. It is not its cost: it may have bought at any price within each quarter. That is why we do not compute an average cost or a gain.

split-adjusted shares

Each quarter's share count restated on today's basis, so a split does not look like a purchase nor a reverse split like a sale. A position's history also continues when the stock changes CUSIP or the portfolio moves to another entity of the same manager.

holders among all 13F filers

The 13F filers holding the most shares of a company, and those that added or cut the most in the quarter, whatever their type: index firms, banks, pension funds. It is not the full shareholder list: individuals, insiders, foreign funds that do not file a 13F and short positions are missing. Entities of the same group file separately and there may be double counting.

institutional ownership (13F)

Shares reported by all 13F filers divided by the shares outstanding on the cover of the latest 10-K or 10-Q. It can exceed 100% because of securities lending or double reporting. We only publish it where the figure is credible: not for ADRs, companies with more than one share class, covers older than 200 days or with a split in between.

index firm

A firm whose 13F is mostly index-tracking funds (BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street and others on a published list). They hold the stock because it is in the index, not because they picked it: that is why they can be filtered out of the holder list.

option notional

The value of the shares underlying a put or a call, which is what the 13F reports. It is not what was paid for the option (the premium), usually far less. Nor does the 13F say whether the option is bought or written, or its strike or expiry: it may be a hedge.

moved from 13G to 13D

A holder above 5% that had been filing as a passive investor (13G) and now files a 13D, the form for those who may seek to influence the company. It is a change of form: what it intends is stated in the filing itself, not by us.

flagged material events (8-K)

8-K items that usually matter: financial statements that can no longer be relied on (4.02), bankruptcy (1.03), delisting notice (3.01), change of auditor (4.01), debt acceleration (2.04), impairment (2.06), cybersecurity incident (1.05), restructuring (2.05), unregistered equity sale (3.02) and change in officers or directors (5.02). It is the label the company chose; we do not read or summarise the content. Item 5.02 includes routine appointments.

buybacks and dilution

Change in average diluted shares from one fiscal year to the next, net of splits. Negative: the company bought back more shares than it issued. Positive: it issued more (dilution), for example by paying employees in stock. If there is a jump that may be an undetected split, it is not shown.

cash flow over net income

Operating cash flow ÷ net income over the last 12 months. Near or above 1, earnings are collected in cash; far below, part of them is accounting. Not calculated with negative net income. A single figure is not enough to judge a company's accounting.

interest coverage

Operating income ÷ interest paid in the latest fiscal year: how many times the business pays the cost of its debt. Negative if operating income is negative. It does not apply to banks or insurers, where interest is part of the business.

debt maturities

How much debt comes due in each of the next five years and thereafter, from the debt note of the latest annual report. It comes from tags each company uses in its own way: it may be missing or not match the balance-sheet total. There is data for fewer than half of the companies.

turnover and traded turnover

Turnover: the sum of the weight changes of all positions in a quarter, divided by two; it includes the effect of price moves. Traded turnover: the same but only with the weight the manager bought and sold, excluding price. The second is lower and says better how much it traded. Neither is calculated in the quarter the portfolio moves to another entity of the same manager.

share of their holding (insiders)

For an insider purchase or sale, the shares traded divided by the shares held directly just before. “+12% of what they held” weighs differently from the same dollar amount for someone who already held a hundred times more. Not calculated when the holding is indirect (trusts, companies).

sector weight

Average, across concentrated managers, of the weight that sector has in each one's 13F portfolio. Every manager counts the same. Each company's sector comes from the industry code (SIC) it reports to the SEC, with a mapping table published in the methodology: it is an approximation and does not always match other classifications.