The former right-hand man of Carl Icahn, Keith Meister of Corvex Management has become a feared activist in his own right since starting up his own hedge fund in 2011 with the help of $250 million in seed capital from George Soros.

Some of Meister's recent activist targets have included Centurylink, Inc. (NYSE:CTL), where he successfully advocated for Jeff Storey to take over as CEO following that company's merger with Level 3, and Energen Corporation (NYSE:EGN), where he won two board seats in March and then tag teamed the company with old pal Icahn in May as he pushed for a sale, which was eventually successful.

In a recent interview on CNBC, Meister encouraged investors to stick to what they know and invest for the long-term, warning that quantitative models are going to steamroll over stock traders who don't have some kind of edge when it comes to making their investment decisions. Meister also praised President Trump's trade war with China, calling it a necessary move that had been avoided for too long. Meister sees a "fundamental-based period of winners and losers" resulting from the trade war, which he believes will eventually result in a deal.

In Q3, Corvex Management's 13F portfolio rose by just under 5% in value to $2.18 billion after the fund added nine new holdings to its portfolio and sold out of seven former positions. Meister was looking to consumer discretionary stocks to weather the trade war storm, as they rose by 11 percentage points to 17.45% weighting in Corvex's 13F portfolio. On the other hand, there were noteworthy declines in the fund's exposure to tech, finance, and communications stocks.

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On the next page we'll look at three stocks Meister was bullish on heading into the holiday quarter, as well as two that he was selling off shares of.

Stocks Bought in Q3

Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR)

- Shares Bought During Q3: 911,304 - Value of Holding (as of September 30): $74.32 million

- Q4 Return (through December 14): +5.29%

- Trailing P/E Ratio: 11.66

Corvex took a new stake in Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) during Q3, which could be in anticipation of a near-term economic downturn, which the discount retailer should be able to perform well during. Dollar Tree's results have been dragged down for years by its $9 billion purchase of struggling Dollar General in 2015, which it has been unable to turn around despite massive investment.

The Stars Group Inc. (NASDAQ:TSG)

- Shares Bought During Q3: 560,320 - Value of Holding (as of September 30): $13.95 million

- Q4 Return (through December 14): -34.50%

- Forward P/E Ratio: 6.63

Corvex also opened a new position in The Stars Group Inc. (NASDAQ:TSG) during Q3, a quarter after hedge funds were buying the stock in droves during Q2, when the number of TSG shareholders among the funds tracked by our database more than doubled to 60. Hedge funds are clearly bullish on the Canadian gaming company's prospects in the wake of its $4.7 billion purchase of Sky Betting and Gaming in Q2, as well as the Supreme Court's decision to legalize sports betting.

Mohawk Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MHK)

- Shares Bought During Q3: 706,374 million - Value of Holding (as of September 30): $147 million

- Q4 Return (through December 14): -33.29%

- Trailing P/E Ratio: 2.34

Mohawk Industries, Inc. (NYSE:MHK) is now Keith Meister's top stock pick after he jacked Corvex's position by 543% during Q3. Meister may have felt the price floor was near for the flooring company's stock, which has been one of the worst performers in the S&P 500 this year, losing a dreadful 58%. However, that has yet to be the case, as the market has continued to mop the floor with Mohawk's shares in Q4.

Stocks Sold in Q3

salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM)

- Shares Sold During Q3: 260,500 million - Value of Holding (as of September 30): $0 million

- Q4 Return (through December 14): -13.83%

- Trailing P/E Ratio: 128.48

Meister unloaded salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) after two very profitable years owning the stock, which has gained 65% since the end of 2016. Salesforce has become a hedge fund darling during that time, with a greater than 30% rise in the number of funds owning shares, which has pushed it onto the list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds.

JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU)

- Shares Sold During Q3: 1.25 million - Value of Holding (as of September 30): $60.07 million

- Q4 Return (through December 14): -13.07%

- Trailing P/E Ratio: 7.92

Corvex unloaded 29% of its JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) shares during Q3 after buying more shares during each of the past three quarters. While VR Stocks Could Eventually Disrupt the Travel Industry and broader industry concerns have hammered airline stocks recently, JetBlue is confident that it can grow EPS to between $2.50 and $3.00 per share by 2020.

Disclosure: None