5 Big Moves From Soros’ Q2 Portfolio: From Facebook To Liberty Broadband

Communications Sales & Leasing Inc (NASDAQ:CSAL)

– Shares Owned by Soros Fund Management (as of June 30): 730,898

– Value of Soros Fund Management’s Stake (as of June 30): $21.12 Million

Communications Sales & Leasing Inc (NASDAQ:CSAL) was one of the 79 stocks that Soros added to its equity portfolio during the second quarter. Ken Griffin’s fund also opened a large stake in the company during the quarter, having declared holding 3.15 million shares of the company as of June 30. Messrs. Griffin and Soros were among the five billionaires in our database long CSAL on June 30, with their combined stakes valued at $225.8 million as of June 30.

Shares of Communications Sales & Leasing have gained more than 58% year-to-date, posting a 32% surge over the second quarter. Over the third quarter, the stock has risen by another 4.6%. However, in the past week, shares were particularly volatile and ultimately down by more than 2%, mostly on the back of last Thursday’s earnings report released by the company. While second quarter FFO of $0.66 came in $0.01 ahead of the Street’s consensus, revenue of $188.6 million, up by 46.5% year-over-year, missed estimates by $440,000.

Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ:ROVI)

– Shares Owned by Soros Fund Management (as of June 30): 4.07 million

– Value of Soros Fund Management’s Stake (as of June 30): $63.6 million

One of Soros’ most bullish moves during the quarter was in Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ:ROVI). Over the second quarter, Soros greatly boosted its exposure to the company, increasing its bonds position by 54% to 98.56 million bonds, and acquiring 4.06 million shares of the company worth $63.6 million. The equity position makes Soros Fund Management the largest hedge fund investor of record in our database, trailed by Driehaus Capital’s position of 3.02 million shares worth $47.18 million as of June 30.

Over the first couple of months of 2016, Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ:ROVI)’s performance had been great. However, the stock plummeted during March and April, opening an attractive entry point for investors. After tumbling by 23.7% in the second quarter, the shares rebounded, recuperating 28.5% of their value between July 1 and August 17, helped by a second quarter top- and bottom-line beat, a patent license renewal with Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), and important advances related to its TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO) acquisition.

Liberty Broadband Corp (NASDAQ:LBRDK)

– Shares Owned by Soros Fund Management (as of June 30): 8.89 Million

– Value of Soros Fund Management’s Stake (as of June 30): $533.52 Million

Finally, there’s Liberty Broadband Corp (NASDAQ:LBRDK), Soros’ largest new position, and second-largest equity stake as of June 30. Only Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners held a larger stake in the company, comprising 9.2 million shares. A total of five billionaires in our database were long the stock at the end of the second quarter.

Shares of Liberty Broadband Corp (NASDAQ:LBRDK) were volatile throughout the second quarter, but ultimately ended it up by 2.83%. However, Soros could have bought in for prices as low as $55.32 per share, with the stock now trading around $67.95. One of Liberty Media’s three tracking stocks, Liberty Broadband trades at an NAV discount of approximately 13%, which President and CEO Greg Maffei expressed surprise at during the company’s second quarter earnings call. Liberty Broadband completed its acquisitions of Time Warner Cable and Brighthouse during the quarter.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned above.