Billionaires Dan Loeb, Jim Simons and Others Reveal Major New Stock Picks

Dan Loeb Also Purchases Large Stake in Signet Jewelers

Third Point also snapped up a new stake of exactly 1.00 million shares of Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG) during the January-to-March period, which was valued at $124.03 million at the end of the period. The 1.00 million-share stake constituted 1.1% of the worth of the fund’s equity portfolio on March 31. The world’s largest retailer of diamond jewelry has seen its market value drop by 14% since the beginning of 2016. The company’s total sales for fiscal year (FY) 2016 ended January 30 were $6.55 billion, up from $5.74 billion recorded for FY2015. The increase was mainly driven by the $1.46 billion acquisition of Zale Corporation in May 2014. Nonetheless, Signet Jewelers recorded same-store sales growth of 4.1% for FY2016, after the same-store figure increased at the same rate in the prior fiscal year. Meanwhile, FY2016 net income increased by 7.1% year-over-year to $467.9 million. Keith Meister’s Corvex Capital upped its stake in Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE:SIG) by 6% during the March quarter to 5.93 million shares.

Billionaire Seth Klarman Initiates New Position in Allergan Before Inversion Deal Collapses

Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group LLC purchased a new position of 1.72 million shares of Allergan plc (NYSE:AGN) in the first quarter of 2016, which was worth a massive $461.44 million at the end of the quarter. The new stake, acquired before the planned $160 billion inversion deal between Allergan and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) was terminated, accounted for nearly 6.7% of Baupost Group’s equity portfolio on March 31. Assuming Mr. Klarman has not adjusted the Allergan stake, the 1.72 million-share position would be worth $387.39 million at the moment, representing a loss of nearly $75 million since the end of March. Soon after the multi-billion-dollar inversion deal was terminated by mutual agreement following new regulations set to crack down on corporate inversions, Allergan acquired Topokine Therapeutics, a privately-held clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing medicines for fat reduction. Allergan shares have plummeted by nearly 28% since the start of the year, mainly due to the failed inversion deal. John Paulson’s Paulson & Co had 5.42 million shares of Allergan plc (NYSE:AGN) in its equity portfolio at the end of March.

Billionaire David Tepper Acquires New Stake in Synchrony Financial

The latest round of 13Fs also revealed that David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management LP purchased a new stake of 5.02 million shares of Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) during the first three months of 2016. The new stake was valued at $143.89 million at the end of March and constituted 2.5% of Appaloosa’s equity portfolio. The shares of the credit card issuer have advanced by 10% in the past three months, but are down by 4% year-to-date. Synchrony Financial continues to focus its efforts on growing its deposit base, with the company’s total deposits for the first quarter increasing by 3.7% year-over-year to $45.0 billion. Shares of Synchrony Financial are currently changing hands at around 9.3-times expected earnings, versus the forward P/E multiples of 9.0 for Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) and 11.5 for American Express Company (NYSE:AXP). First Eagle Investment Management, overseen by Mehdi Mahmud, increased its holding in Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) by 11% during the March quarter, to 11.62 million shares.

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