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Despite broad concerns surrounding the health of regional banks, Ole Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global bought into one key name in the sector in the fourth quarter. Viking Global built a stake worth more than $400 million in Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp in the final three-month period of 2023, regulatory fillings show . The move came near the end of a turbulent year for regional banks after the shuttering of Silicon Valley Bank , First Republic Bank and Signature Bank led investors to question the regionals’ business model. Shares of U.S. Bancorp climbed more than 30% in the fourth quarter, but the stovck still ended the year down about 1%. U.S. Bancorp has lost 5.2% since 2024 began. USB 1Y mountain U.S. Bancorp, 1-year Still, the purchase offers a vote of confidence in U.S. Bancorp. The SPDR S & P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) ended 2023 down more than 10% and has lost another 9% in the new year. The sector took a hit this year following New York Bancorp ‘s dismal fourth quarter earnings , which showed a loss, a large reserve against weaker future credits and slashed the dividend. Halvorsen, who founded Viking in 1999 after working under the late Julian Robertson at Tiger Management, also joined other hedge fund managers in changing up technology holdings at the end of a strong year. He opened new stakes in Google parent Alphabet and Advanced Micro Devices . He lowered positions in Amazon and Meta , though the latter was still in his top five largest holdings by value, according to InsiderScore. Halvorsen went even further and zeroed out stakes in Microsoft and Arm Holdings , the British chip and software designer that went public last September. Beyond tech, Viking increased holdings in Progressive and Mastercard by more than 400% and 290%, respectively. With the increase, Progressive was the fund’s eighth largest position. Halvorsen also created new stakes in Deere , CBOE and Lamb Weston . But the 63-year-old Halvorsen also slashed Viking’s holdings in PPG and General Electric , while entirely closing out Lululemon , Colgate-Palmolive and Dollar General .
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