Billionaire James Dinan’s York Capital Initiated Stakes in These Companies

#3 Shire PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:SHPG)

– Shares Owned by York Capital Management (as of June 30): 932,085

– Value of Holding (as of June 30): $171.58 Million

Moving on, despite the fact that it is currently trading almost flat for 2016, Shire PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:SHPG) has been one of the best performing large-cap biotech stocks this year. In June, the company completed its $32 billion merger with Baxalta which it had announced at the beginning of 2016. To repay the bridge loans it had taken to fund this acquisition, on September 20, Shire PLC announced that it has priced its public offering of $12.1 billion of senior notes, which are expected to be issued on September 23 subject to customary closing conditions. Last month, the Street was buzzing with rumors that Shire PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:SHPG) has bid $800 million for acquiring California-based drug maker Raptor Pharmaceuticals. However, none of those two entities have commented on this rumor so far. On Tuesday, analysts at Jefferies Group reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating and $262 price target on Shire PLC’s ADR, which represents a potential upside of 27% from its current trading price. At the end of June, there were 64 hedge funds covered by us that were long Shire PLC with the aggregate value of their holdings in it amounting to $3.77 billion.

#2 Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON)

– Shares Owned by York Capital Management (as of June 30): 2.28 Million

– Value of Holding (as of June 30): $235.92 Million

Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) was York Capital Management’s third largest equity holding at the end of the second quarter. Other hedge funds that initiated a stake in the company during the April-June period included Nancy Havens-Hasty‘s Havens Advisors and Jason Karp‘s Tourbillon Capital Partners. Shares of the agriculture product giant tumbled heavily last year and are yet to recoup most of those losses as they trade with a meager year-to-date gain of only 3.45% currently. On September 14, Bayer announced that it had agreed to acquire Monsanto Company for $128 per share in cash or almost $66 billion. However, rather than pushing Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON)’s stock upwards, this announcement has had a negative impact on the stock so far because most analysts and investors are skeptical about the deal going through due to numerous regulatory and antitrust hurdles. In order to merge, the companies will have to go through antitrust reviews in nearly 30 jurisdictions worldwide. On September 15, analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated their ‘Sell’ rating on the stock. The number of hedge funds covered by us that were long Monsanto Company rose by 26 to 87 during the second quarter, while the aggregate value of their holdings in it jumped 117.22% to $5.32 billion.

#1 Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN)

– Shares Owned by York Capital Management (as of June 30): 5.07 Million

– Value of Holding (as of June 30): $305.91 Million

Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN) was the largest new position in York Capital Management’s equity portfolio at the end of June. Having appreciated by 68.6% so far in 2016, it is also the top stock covered in this article when it comes to year-to-date gains. While Medivation Inc’s stock was already trading with decent gains for the year till last month, a large part of the gain it sports currently came on August 22 when pharma giant Pfizer Inc. announced that it will be acquiring the company for $81.50 per share. Following Pfizer’s announcement, several leading analysts on Wall Street lowered their rating on Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN)’s stock, including Brean Capital and Stifel Nicolaus, which both lowered it to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’. For its fiscal 2016 third quarter, analysts expect Medivation to report EPS of $0.38 on revenue of $238.37 million. For the same quarter of last year, the company reported EPS of $0.35 on revenue of $260.67 million. During the April-June period, the ownership of Medivation Inc (NASDAQ:MDVN) among funds covered by us increased by 16 to 65 and the aggregate value of their holdings in it rose by $1.27 billion to $2.83 billion.

Disclosure: None