Here are the Biggest Holdings of Bill Ackman, Who is Doubling the Return of the S&P 500 this Year (CNBC)
Activist investor Bill Ackman‘s Pershing Square Holdings is off to a strong start in 2019 thanks to some key new stakes and outperformance of prior investments. The hedge fund reported on Wednesday that its portfolio is up 24.7 percent this year, easily topping the S&P 500’s 9.7 percent return. This follows four-straight years of negative returns for his fund. According to the latest holdings, the fund’s biggest stakes include Restaurant Brands, Lowe’s, Chipotle, United Technologies and Automatic Data Processing.
Eddie Lampert Thinks Sears, After Emerging from Bankruptcy, Could be a Public Company Again (CNBC)
Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert has a new vision for the department store chain, once a publicly traded retailer until it was forced to file for bankruptcy last year. “If I am a betting person, which I am, I would say at some point we would be public again,” Lampert told The Wall Street Journal. It was his first interview since the deal to use his ESL Investments hedge fund to buy Sears out of bankruptcy was approved this month. Through the $5.2 billion deal, 425 Sears and Kmart stores and 45,000 jobs were saved.
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Pernod CEO Pursues Change and Engages Activist Shareholder (Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) – Pernod Ricard will embrace change and continue “constructive” talks with activist investor Elliott Management, CEO Alexandre Ricard said on Tuesday while dismissing speculation that the company could become a takeover target. The world’s second-biggest spirits group behind Diageo is under pressure from New York hedge fund Elliott Management to improve profit margins and corporate governance.
Stars Aligning for China Equity Manager (HFAlert)
After seeing its business crimped by regulations, Shanghai ShenYi Investment is positioning itself for an expansion. The growth would come in part through a systematic equity vehicle called China Arbitrage Fund through which the $400 million Shanghai firm is aiming to raise capital from investors outside China for the first time. That entity currently manages $2 million of partner capital and is about to add $15 million in the form of a separate account for a large U.S. institution. With the assistance of placement agent Protocol Capital, ShenYi met with some 45 investors, including many heavy hitters, in a roadshow that included Context Summits’ “Miami 2019” conference, which took place Jan. 30-Feb. 1 in Miami Beach. From there, the firm visited Chicago and New York. It also is planning a trip to Europe.
Crypto Finally Poised to Get Institutional Money, Novogratz Says (Bloomberg)
Institutional money should start to flow into cryptocurrencies within the next year, setting the stage for a rally, according to Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. founder Mike Novogratz. “All the architecture that institutions need to feel comfortable with this is being put in place,” Novogratz said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “You’re going to start to see custody come online” through the middle of March, paving the way for the “smart money” to enter in a serious fashion.
SCF’s Asset Growth Passes New Milestone (HedgeNordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Scandinavian Credit Fund has reached SEK 3 billion in assets under management following record commitments from investors in December and January. The alternative investment fund engaged in direct lending to small and medium-sized companies had reached SEK 1 billion in assets in October of 2017 and reached the SEK 2 billion-mark in June last year. With the effort of six analysts and originators part of its debt capital market (DCM) origination team, Scandinavian Credit Fund provides short- to medium-term direct loans to small- and medium-sized companies seeking capital for business expansion, inventory or equipment purchases, working capital needs, or refinancing.
Billionaire Gives One Million Dollar Donation To Bill Daley’s Campaign (WJOL.com)
Illinois’ richest man is making a major donation to Bill Daley’s campaign for mayor of Chicago. Billionaire hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin is donating one million dollars to the candidate from a well known family. He called Daley a proven leader who understands the importance of working for all Chicagoans regardless of politics, race or background. The election is set for February 26th.
The Former Apple Lawyer Who was Supposed to Keep Employees from Insider Trading Has Been Charged with Insider Trading (CNBC)
The SEC Wednesday charged a former Apple executive with insider trading. Gene Levoff, senior director of corporate law and corporate secretary until September, “traded on material nonpublic information about Apple’s earnings three times during 2015 and 2016,” according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.
Fortinet Inc (FTNT) President & CEO Ken Xie Sold $6.5 million of Shares (GuruFocus)
President & CEO of Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ:FTNT) Ken Xie sold 80,000 shares of FTNT on 02/11/2019 at an average price of $81.64 a share. The total sale was $6.5 million. Fortinet Inc software solutions provider. The company develops and sells a portfolio of security software products which includes firewall, threat detection, WLAN and switching, application security, identity and access management. Fortinet Inc has a market cap of $14.16 billion; its shares were traded at around $83.13 with a P/E ratio of 43.97 and P/S ratio of 8.06. Fortinet Inc had annual average EBITDA growth of 15.70% over the past ten years.
Wednesday 2/13 Insider Buying Report: TRNO, GOSS (Nasdaq.com)
Bargain hunters are wise to pay careful attention to insider buying, because although there are many various reasons for an insider to sell a stock, presumably the only reason they would use their hard-earned cash to make a purchase, is that they expect to make money. Today we look at two noteworthy recent insider buys. At Terreno Realty, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Friday, Director David M. Lee purchased 5,000 shares of TRNO, at a cost of $42.04 each, for a total investment of $210,200. Bargain hunters have the opportunity to bag TRNO at a price even lower than Lee did, with the stock trading as low as $40.50 at last check today – that’s 3.7% below Lee’s purchase price. Terreno Realty is trading up about 0.5% on the day Wednesday. This buy marks the first one filed by Lee in the past year.
The SVP & Pres. Commercial Segment of Oshkosh Corp is Exercising Options (AnalystRatings)
Today it was reported that the SVP & Pres. Commercial Segment of Oshkosh Corp (OSK), Bradley Nelson, exercised options to sell 6,500 OSK shares at $28.96 a share, for a total transaction value of $513.1K. In addition to Bradley Nelson, 2 other OSK executives reported Sell trades in the last month.
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) Insider Trading Activity – EVP Sold 60,000 shares of Stock (Market Exclusive)
Insider Trading Activity For Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN): Daniel J Neumeyer , EVP of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) reportedly Sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock at an average price of 13.71 for a total transaction amount of $822,600.00.Insider Trading History For Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN): On 8/14/2012 David L Porteous, Director, bought 6,100 with an average share price of $6.50 per share and the total transaction amounting to $39,650.00. On 8/15/2012 Donald R Kimble, CFO, bought 5,000 with an average share price of $6.41 per share and the total transaction amounting to $32,050.00.
