Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP), SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSEARCA:GLD), The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX)
Leon Cooperman‘s Omega Advisors soured on Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) in the second quarter, while Patrick McCormack’s Tiger Consumer Management took a shine to the social networking company. Regulatory filings on Wednesday from hedge funds and other investment firms reveal how big money managers reshaped their portfolios in the quarter. Their so-called 13F filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission offer a window into the strategies of managers when it comes to buying and selling US stocks. Omega, for instance, in the quarter sold 3.67 million shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), according to the firm’s regulatory filing. The hedge fund also took a new stake of 5.72 million shares in New Residential Investment, a mortgage real estate investment trust. Tiger Consumer, meanwhile, added 1.2 million shares of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), bringing its total holding to 4.8 million shares…
Hedge Funds Triple Dell Stakes Boosting Buyout’s Prospects (BusinessWeek)
Hedge-fund managers almost tripled their holdings of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) common shares in the second quarter while traditional mutual-fund firms cut their stakes in the computer maker, a trend that could boost Michael Dell’s bid to take his company private. Money managers classified as hedge funds increased their portion of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL)’s 1.78 billion shares outstanding to 18 percent as of June 30 from 6.5 percent as of March 31, according to holder reports filed as of yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Elliott Management Corp., the hedge-fund firm founded by Paul Singer, bought almost 22 million shares during the period, and Abrams Capital Management LP, a Boston-based firm run by David Abrams, purchased 15 million.
Apple regaining its popularity among the biggest hedge funds (NDTV)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is regaining its popularity among the biggest hedge funds, some of which have said a massive sell-off this year has gone too far. After Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was dumped left and right starting in late 2012, noted stock picker Leon Cooperman of Omega Advisors re-entered Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares in the second quarter, while George Soros’s Soros Fund Management LLC increased its stake and Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn held on to his 2.4 million shares, according to quarter regulatory filings on Wednesday. Cooperman, whose hedge fund had roughly $7 billion in assets last November, took a new position of 31,000 shares in the iPhone, iPad and Mac computer maker after selling 266,404 shares of the company in the fourth quarter of last year.
Porsche Faces New Hedge Fund Cartel Claim in Legal Battle (BusinessWeek)
Porsche Automobil Holding SE faces a new legal maneuver from hedge funds seeking to recoup billions of euros they say they lost amid the former sports carmaker’s aborted bid to buy Volkswagen AG (FRA:VOW) The funds, which include Elliott International LP and Perry Partners LP, are suing Porsche for 1.81 billion euros ($2.4 billion) over claims it manipulated Volkswagen shares by denying interest in a deal before it made a bid. After other investors lost two similar claims at a German tribunal last year, the funds added antitrust claims against Porsche to their suit, forcing a move to a court that specializes in cartel suits.
Hedge funds need to tackle insider trading perception (Risk)
No one likes being fooled, being seen as a fool, thought to have been foolish. But that is exactly what most hedge fund managers are, or at least according to economic theory, a ‘greater fool’: the idea that it is possible to make money by buying securities, whether overvalued or not, and later selling them at a profit because there will always be someone – a bigger or greater fool – who is willing to pay the higher price. This activity has come under an intense spotlight since the financial crisis. Some would say regulators, and in particular the Securities and Exchange Commission, are on a witch hunt, unjustly targeting successful hedge funds. Others would say it is about time regulators stop unfair practices and clean up trading practices at hedge fund houses.
Icahn seeks to fast-track his Dell lawsuit (Reuters)
Activist investor Carl Icahn will ask a Delaware court on Friday to fast-track his lawsuit against Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), a key thrust in his months-long effort to derail CEO Michael Dell’s controversial $24.8 billion offer to buy and take private the No. 3 PC maker. Icahn is trying to accelerate the timeframe on his lawsuit, hoping to head off a September 12 special shareholders’ vote on a takeover proposal that the hedge fund billionaire and other major investors argue severely undervalues the company. …Icahn, who wants to install his own directors on the board and oust the founding CEO, argues that Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) and a special committee overseeing the takeover are short-changing investors.
