Pershing Square Trails S&P 500 in H1 2023 (Hedge Week)
Pershing Square, the US equities hedge fund founded by Bill Ackman, underperformed in the first half of the year, partly due to efforts to protect the firm against rises in long-term inflation, according to a report by CityWire. The $10.7bn (£8.4bn) FTSE 100-listed investment firm generated a total underlying return of 10% in the first six months of 2023, behind the US stock market, with the S&P 500 index gaining 16.9% over the same period. With the firm’s discount to net asset values (NAV) also widening to 36.12%, prompting the board to buy back shares worth $55.4m, shareholders only received a 5.4% return.
Funds Ditch $11B of China’s Blue-Chip Stocks in 13 Days (Investment News)
Fears of economic contagion from housing market are driving investors out of the mainland market. Global investors have been shedding China’s blue-chip stocks during the longest stretch of outflows on record, showing even the nation’s industry leaders are falling out of favor as a rout deepens. Foreign investors sold 6.2 billion yuan ($851 million) of Kweichow Moutai Co. from Aug. 7 to Aug. 18, making China’s largest liquor maker the most heavily sold stock via trading links with Hong Kong. It was followed by 4.7 billion yuan of selling each for leading renewables stock LONGi Green Energy Technology Co. and major lender China Merchants Bank Co., according to the latest data on individual stocks available on Bloomberg.
Och Slams Sculptor Proxy in Demand for Merger Books, Records (1) (Bloomberg Law)
Dan Och is demanding that Sculptor Capital Management release books and records to investigate how the hedge fund firm he founded chose Rithm Capital Corp. as its merger partner. A Sculptor proxy statement this week “appears to present a narrative that is misleading and incomplete,” Och and four other former executives said Tuesday in a filing. It shows that a special committee of the firm “remains beholden to management and is failing to act in the best interests of shareholders.”
Wednesday 8/23 Insider Buying Report: MRCY, KNTK (Nasdaq.com)
At Mercury Systems, a filing with the SEC revealed that on Friday, CEO William L. Ballhaus bought 39,925 shares of MRCY, at a cost of $37.57 each, for a total investment of $1.5M. Ballhaus was up about 8.3% on the buy at the high point of today’s trading session, with MRCY trading as high as $40.68 in trading on Wednesday. Mercury Systems is trading up about 5.4% on the day Wednesday. This buy marks the first one filed by Ballhaus in the past year. And on Monday, Jamie Welch bought $286,325 worth of Kinetik Holdings, buying 8,125 shares at a cost of $35.24 each. Before this latest buy, Welch bought KNTK on 3 other occasions during the past year, for a total investment of $1.31M at an average of $35.03 per share. Kinetik Holdings Inc is trading trading flat on the day Wednesday.
Electronic Arts, Tractor Supply And 2 Other Stocks Insiders Are Selling (Benzinga)
Tractor Supply: The Trade: Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) EVP Chief Financial Officer Kurt D Barton sold a total of 7,487 shares at an average price of $222.43. The insider received around $1.67 million from selling those shares. Electronic Arts: The Trade: Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) Director Luis A Ubinas sold a total of 2,004 shares at an average price of $122.06. The insider received around $244,604 from selling those shares.
