How to read a 13F

What is a Form 13F?

Form 13F is a report that large investment managers file with the SEC every quarter. A manager with at least $100 million in US-listed securities (the SEC’s Section 13(f) list) must list each one it holds, how many shares, and what they were worth on the last day of the quarter.

A 13F shows long positions only. Short positions, many derivatives and private companies never appear. This site follows a featured set of managers, not every 13F filer.

Why is 13F data delayed?

A 13F is due 45 days after quarter-end: mid-February, mid-May, mid-August and mid-November. A weekend deadline moves to the next business day. So a second-quarter 13F shows holdings as of June 30 but usually becomes public in mid-August.

A portfolio can change a lot in those weeks. We show what was filed, not a guess at what the manager holds today.

Is 13F AUM the same as free float?

No. The portfolio value shown here is the total of the stock positions in the 13F. A stock’s portfolio weight is its share of that manager’s portfolio. It is not a percent of the company’s shares (its free float or shares outstanding). A 10% position can be a small slice of a large company.

What is a manager vs a book?

A manager is one filer on Managers (one SEC registrant number, or CIK). A book is that manager’s portfolio as reported in one quarter’s 13F. If a manager files a corrected 13F (a 13F-HR/A restatement), it replaces that quarter’s book.

Operating companies that file 13Fs, such as Alphabet or Loews, are listed separately on OpCo 13F-HR.

How do I use Managers, Activity, filings, and ticker pages?

• Quarter summary: what the featured managers bought and sold last quarter, counted by how many of them did it.
• Newest 13Fs: the latest filing from each manager, newest first.
• Activity: every position opened, added to, trimmed or closed, by filing date.
• Managers: the directory, with each manager’s portfolio value, number of holdings and largest positions.
• Ticker pages (for example AAPL): which featured managers hold a stock, and how that changed.
• Compare: two managers’ portfolios side by side.
• Ownership grid: the most widely held stocks at a glance.
• Company filings: 8-Ks from the companies in these portfolios, not Form 13F.

What we leave blank

If we cannot be sure of a number, we leave it blank rather than show a wrong one. A missing portfolio value, price or holder count does not mean zero. The original filings are on SEC EDGAR.