David Shaw‘s D.E. Shaw is one of the largest hedge funds in the world with more than $67 billion in Assets Under Management. Based in New York, the firm employs systematic and computer-driven methods. In the previous round of 13F filings, the fund reported an equity portfolio of $77.22 billion, up from $73.44 billion in the previous quarter. The equity portfolio is diversified, but is slightly inclined towards the tech sector, which amasses 23% of the total portfolio. In this article, we will examine three largest positions in terms of value, which are represented by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), and eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY).
During the third quarter, D.E. Shaw trimmed its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 233,525 shares, down to 11.65 million shares, which are valued at $1.17 billion. Moreover, D.E. Shaw owns around 15.95 million shares in ‘Put’ options. The fund has been holding shares of the company for several years, and benefited from the stock gaining ground. However, while during last year, D.E. Shaw was increasing its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), in the first quarter it cut the stake by around 5.96 million shares, but added 4.72 million shares in the second quarter amid the stock split, which made it cheaper and more available to investors.
Moreover, out of over 700 funds that we track at Insider Monkey, a total of 153 funds reported long positions in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the latest round of 13F filings, which made it the most popular stock among hedge funds. Among the investors that we track, the largest shareholder of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Carl Icahn, which owns 52.76 million shares as of the end of September, valued at $5.32 billion.
On the other hand, D.E. Shaw boosted its exposure to Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) by 20% over the quarter to 19.57 million shares, the stake being worth $797.35 million. D.E. Shaw, being a passive investor, followed the path adopted by many of its peers. As a results, Yahoo became one of the most popular tech stock picks with a total of 94 funds disclosing long positions, versus 79 in the previous quarters. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) owns a huge equity stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), which is expected to have a significant positive impact on the stock in the near future. Another fund that has boosted its exposure to Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is John Burbank‘s Passport Capital, which added 6.92 million shares during the third quarter, taking the position to 7.48 million shares.
Mr. Shaw also raised raised his fund’s exposure to eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) by 2.95 million shares, taking the stake to 10.98 million shares with an aggregate value of $621.71 million. The move came on the back of eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY)’s plans to spin-off its PayPal unit next year, which will benefit the current sharehoders of eBay. One of the main supporters of this decision among the company’s investors was Carl Icahn, who also said that one of the best ways for PayPal to grow is to combine with another company through a merger or an acquisition of another company from the industry. Carl Icahn owns 42.83 million shares of eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) as of the end of September, up by 15.02 million shares; the stake is worth $2.60 billion and is the fourth-largest in terms of value in the investor’s equity portfolio.
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