A Lobbyist Gave $900,000 in Donations. Whose Money Is It? (The New York Times)
Of all the billionaires, hedge fund managers and chief executives who have showered politicians in New York with money in the last five years, no one has given more often than David C. Rich. Since 2014, Mr. Rich has doled out more than 200 contributions totaling over $900,000. Last year alone, he gave away nearly a quarter of a million dollars across dozens of campaigns, according to an analysis by The New York Times, and has donated at least 39 times so far this year. The scale of personal contributions put Mr. Rich in the rarefied ranks of the fabulously wealthy, like Steven A. Cohen, the investor, and the Walton family, heirs to the Walmart fortune, who write huge checks to favored causes, often to charter schools.
Hedge Funds From Autonomy to Odey Tumble on Argentine Swoon (Bloomberg)
Big hedge funds thought they could maneuver through the minefields of Argentine politics. Instead, they got clobbered. Autonomy Capital and VR Capital Group saw their gains for the year wiped away after starting August with wagers on the South American nation. Famed short seller Crispin Odey and Glen Point Capital also saw losses.
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Exclusive: Third Point Builds Stake in Ray-Ban Maker EssilorLuxottica – Sources (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Third Point LLC, the U.S. hedge fund that has pushed for changes at companies ranging from Nestle SA (NESN.S) to Campbell Soup Co (CPB.N), has amassed a stake in Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica SA (ESLX.PA), people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. Third Point, run by billionaire investor Daniel Loeb, is targeting EssilorLuxottica amid a power struggle inside the world’s largest lenses and glasses manufacturer, following its formation last year through a 48 billion euro ($53 billion) merger of France’s Essilor and Italy’s Luxottica.
BharatPe raises $50 million from Ribbit, Steadview (The Economic Times)
Bengaluru: BharatPe, a QRcode based payments app for offline merchants, has closed its $50-million (Rs 357-crore) financing led by US-based financial technology-focused investor Ribbit Capital. Hong Kong-based hedge fund Steadview Capital has also joined as a new investor in the payments startup, which is now valued at $225 million (Rs 1,609 crore) after the fund-raise. TOI first reported last month about both Ribbit and Steadview being in the final stages of talks to invest in one of the fastest-growing payments startups. BharatPe’s cofounder and CEO Ashneer Grover told TOI the company’s existing investors Sequoia Capital, Beenext Capital and Insight Partners have also participated in this financing round, which follows its series-A funding of $15 million (Rs 107 crore) in April.
Pemberton Capital Advisers Raises $4.7bn on 2 Fund Closes (Opalesque.com)
The asset management group in London, Pemberton Capital Advisers closed its European midmarket strategy at €3.2bn ($3.5bn), which includes European Mid-Market Debt Fund II and U.K. Mid-Market Debt Fund, and also closed its Strategic Credit Opportunities Fund at €1bn. Pemberton completed two final closes raising €4.2bn in total to invest in leading mid-market companies across Europe said a press release from the diversified asset manager backed by one of Europe’s largest insurers, Legal & General Group PLC. “Pemberton has built on the success of its first European Mid-Market Debt Fund and raised an additional €3.2bn for the strategy which provides senior loans for acquisition and growth capital,” said the press release from the fund management company.
Asgard’s Exposure to Crossover Credit Pays Off (Hedge Nordic)
Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Danish hedge fund Asgard Credit Fund gained 19.8 percent in the first seven months of 2019 and currently ranks among this year’s top ten best-performing members of the Nordic Hedge Index. The fund has achieved this feat by going further out of the credit quality spectrum. “You get well compensated for going out the curve in the investment grade market,” chief investment officer Daniel Pedersen recently told Bloomberg. With €130.3 million in assets as of the end of July, Asgard Credit Fund has exposure to more than 200 corporates using corporate bonds and credit default swaps primarily in the lower end of the investment grade and the higher end of the high-yield spectrum.
Monday 8/26 Insider Buying Report: ICPT, DFIN (Nasdaq.com)
On Thursday, Intercept Pharmaceuticals’ Director, Srinivas Akkaraju, made a $4.5M buy of ICPT, purchasing 67,784 shares at a cost of $66.37 each. Investors have the opportunity to bag ICPT even cheaper than Akkaraju did, with shares changing hands as low as $61.10 in trading on Monday which is 7.9% under Akkaraju’s purchase price. Intercept Pharmaceuticals is trading up about 0.9% on the day Monday. This purchase marks the first one filed by Akkaraju in the past twelve months. And at Donnelley Financial Solutions, there was insider buying on Thursday, by Director Jeffrey Jacobowitz who purchased 314,057 shares at a cost of $11.42 each, for a total investment of $3.59M. This buy marks the first one filed by Jacobowitz in the past year. Donnelley Financial Solutions is trading up about 6% on the day Monday.
Procter & Gamble Co (PG) CEO – Fabric & Home Care Shailesh Jejurikar Sold $919,822 of Shares (Guru Focus)
CEO – Fabric & Home Care of Procter & Gamble Co, Shailesh Jejurikar, sold 7,727 shares of PG on 08/26/2019 at an average price of $119.04 a share. The total sale was $919,822. Procter & Gamble Co is a consumer goods company. The firm markets its products internationally through various channels which include mass merchandisers, grocery stores, membership club stores, drug stores, and department stores. Procter & Gamble Co has a market cap of $299.07 billion; its shares were traded at around $119.52 with a P/E ratio of 87.89 and P/S ratio of 4.58. The dividend yield of Procter & Gamble Co stocks is 2.44%.
The EVP of Spire Inc (NYSE: SR) is Buying Shares (Analyst Ratings)
Today, the EVP of Spire Inc (SR), Steven Rasche, bought shares of SR for $49.88K. Following this transaction Steven Rasche’s holding in the company was increased by 100% to a total of $146.2K. The company has a one-year high of $87.13 and a one-year low of $70.53. SR’s market cap is $4.07B and the company has a P/E ratio of 21.32. Currently, Spire Inc has an average volume of 293.23K.
Notable Insider Buys In The Past Week: Sunrun, W.R. Grace (Benzinga)
Sunrun: Last week, Sunrun Inc RUN 2.69% 10% owner Tiger Global Management acquired 640,000 shares of this solar energy systems installer. At prices ranging from $15.43 to $16.13 per share, those transactions totaled more than $10.10 million. That brought the investment firm’s stake up to almost 14.21 million shares. KeyBanc just initiated bullish coverage on Sunrun and other solar stocks after the recent sell-off. Sunrun shares are down more than 18% this month and closed most recently at $14.66, below the above purchase price range. The stock has traded as high as $21.42 per share in the past 52 weeks.
YS Jaganmohan Reddy Government Finds Insider Trading in Amaravati Capital Land Deals (MumbaiMirror.IndiaTimes.com)
Amaravati: Amid widespread rumours that Andhra Pradesh capital would be shifted out of Amaravati, urban development minister Botsa Satyanarayana has made a sensational revelation that insider trading had taken place in the capital land dealings. “We have complete and authentic information about land dealings in Amaravati. Insider trading had taken place. We will make the details public shortly,” he said in Vijayawada. Responding to the claim of former Union Minister YS (Sujana) Chowdary, who recently joined the BJP, that he does not have lands in Amaravati, the minister said, “We are ready to prove his claims wrong with documentary proof.”
Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc (ARCT) CFO Andy Sassine Bought $109,000 of Shares (Guru Focus)
CFO of Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc, Andy Sassine, bought 10,000 shares of ARCT on 08/23/2019 at an average price of $10.9 a share. The total cost of this purchase was $109,000. Arcturus Therapeutics Ltd is a biotechnology company developing novel RNA medicines. The company develops novel RNA medicines in therapeutic areas including infectious disease, cystic fibrosis, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and rare liver diseases. Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc has a market cap of $142.995 million; its shares were traded at around $10.90 with and P/S ratio of 6.20. Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc had annual average EBITDA growth of 27.70% over the past five years. GuruFocus has detected 2 severe warning signs with Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc.
