Billionaire Bill Ackman runs Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund that returned 234% over the last five years, crushing the 95% total return in the S 500. Pershing Square also beat the benchmark index over the last year and the last decade. That outperformance makes Ackman and his fund a worthwhile case study for investors.

A closer look at the fund in the September quarter shows that Ackman had 31.4% of Pershing Square's portfolio invested in two stocks: 17.4% in Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG), split between Class A and Class C shares, and another 14% in Lowe's (NYSE: LOW). That level of investment suggests Ackman has a great deal of confidence in the ability of these two companies to create shareholder value.

Here's what investors should know about these brilliant stocks.

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Source Fool.com