In the latest round of 13F filings, billionaire Carl Icahn reported his equity portfolio as of the end of the first quarter of 2014. The aggregate value of the portfolio amounts to $32.93 billion, which represents an increase from $30.56 billion held at the end of last year. Overall, the equity portfolio remained unchanged, Mr. Icahn holds a total of 19 positions, out of which he reduced the holding in one company, and raised his exposure to three others.
At the same time, the 13F filing revealed one new stock on which Mr. Icahn was bullish during the first three months of the year: eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY). His holding amasses around 27.8 million shares, with a total value of $1.54 billion. The stock of eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) remained basically flat during the January-March period.
Earlier in March Carl Icahn asked the Board of Directors of eBay to nominate two employees of his fund, Icahn Capital LP to be elected for the company’s board and for the separation of eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY)’s PayPal e-commerce business. After negotiations between Mr. Icahn and eBay’s CEO John Donahoe the parties came to an agreement. Mr. Icahn has withdrawn his requests and the company agreed to nominate former AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) CEO David Dorman as an independent director.
However, in a statement issued by eBay, Icahn was quoted saying that he still intends to pursue the spin-off of PayPal and will continue discussing with Donahoe on different matters related to the company.
Glenview Capital Management, led by Larry Robbins also initiated a $297.96 million stake in eBay, which amasses 5.39 million shares. Rob Citrone‘s Discovery Capital Management is another shareholder with 11.39 million shares, worth $629.41 million.
In addition, Carl Icahn boosted his exposure to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). He reported holding 7.54 million shares of the company, up by around 60% on the quarter, with a reported value of close to $4.05 billion. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies has initiated a stake in the company reporting a $440.86 million position, which contains around 821,400 shares.
Earlier this year, Mr. Icahn urged Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to increase its buyback program and return more capital to shareholders. At the end of April Apple’s Board approved increasing the program to return capital to shareholders planning to use around $130 billion of cash, by the end of 2015. Out of this amount, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) plans to use $90 billion for buying back its stock (up from $60 billion disclosed earlier), and it has increased its quarterly dividend by 8% to $3.29 per share.
Mr. Icahn, as it was mentioned above, reduced his holding in one company, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX). In Netflix, the billionaire currently owns some 2.24 million shares, worth $790.17 million, the position being reduced by around 421,000 shares. The stock of the $20.5 billion Internet television network declined by around 7% since the beginning of the year. Philippe Laffont‘s Coatue Management, on the other hand, raised its stake in Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) by some 477,600 shares to 1.54 million shares, worth $543.61 million.
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