Billionaire Rosenstein Ditches Expedia (EXPE) for Rival Priceline (PCLN), Adds Twitter (TWTR), Unloads Microsoft (MSFT)

Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) stock formed 3.76% of Jana Partners’s portfolio at the end of June. The fund held 2 million shares of the company which were liquidated before the end of September quarter. The number of funds from our hedge fund database long Expedia was at 62 in the quarter ending September. The total value of their holdings stood at $4.8 billion, in comparison to $3.9 billion held by 67 funds at the end of previous quarter. The company announced that its hotel search platform is set to make its IPO debut. It has filed with the US regulators for $400 million worth of Initial Public offering. The stock will be listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker ‘TRVG.’

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock gained 8% this year so far. The company also offers dividend yield of 2.6%. Jana Partners liquidated its holding of the stock during the September quarter to nil. The fund had held 6.8 million shares of Microsoft which formed 6.03% of Jana Partners’ portfolio. 126 hedge funds from our database have positions in Microsoft, with total holdings of about $18 billion at the end of September quarter, amounting to about 4.0% of the company’s outstanding stock. Microsoft reported that it will start offering its Visual Studio program for the Mac platform. The move will help the company in boosting its market share. The new announcement also marks Microsoft’s transition towards cloud based business.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) stock declined 0.5% this year as it also saw Jana Partners liquidating its holding of the stock. The investment firm held 4.57 million shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the September quarter. 67 hedge funds we track hold about $4.43 billion of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock as on the end of June quarter, in comparison to 72 funds holding stock worth $5.28 billion the previous quarter. This number further declined to 60 at the end of September. The company is currently looking to dispose of 650 stores, in order to receive the Federal Trade Commission’s approval for its Rite Aid acquisition. Additionally, the company also filed $140 million suit against Theranos for breach of contract.

DISCLOSURE – NON