Nexvet Biopharma plc (NVET), Allergan, Inc. (AGN), DIRECTV (DTV) : Farallon Capital’s New Activist Position and Top Picks

Next on the list was another merger stock, Covidien plc (NYSE:COV), which was acquired by Medtronic and stopped trading at the end of January.

It is followed by DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV), in which Farallon raised its stake by 30% to 4.74 million shares worth $410.53 million. At the end of the previous quarter, DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV) was the fund’s largest holding, after the stake was raised by almost a threefold amount during the July-September period. The stock of the broadcasting company appreciated by 15% over the last 52 weeks as the company has been reporting consistent earnings per share (EPS) and revenue growth that has come in above the estimates. On the back of a solid performance, the number of funds holding shares of DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV) went up to 63 from 57, while the aggregate value of the stakes held by the funds that we track surged to $10.66 billion, half of which is held by billionaire investors such as Warren Buffett, who upped his stake by 4% to 31.35 million shares.

Farallon also held around 9.05 million shares of Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY) at the end of 2014, and exited the position as the company was acquired by Albertsons and taken private.

Moreover, Farallon reported holding 8.72 million shares of Hudson Pacific Properties Inc (NYSE:HPP) valued at $262.18 million, and has since upped that slightly to 8.74 million, according to a January 13D filing. Furthermore, a couple of weeks ago, Farallon and Hudson Pacific Properties Inc (NYSE:HPP) entered into a lock-up agreement, under the terms of which Farallon will not sell any shares of the company for 60 days. Overall, 20 funds from our database disclosed long positions in Hudson Pacific Properties Inc (NYSE:HPP) in the latest round of 13F filings, up from 13 funds in the previous quarter. Another shareholder of Hudson Pacific Properties is Neil Chriss’ Hutchin Hill Capital, which initiated a stake with 600,000 shares during the fourth quarter.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:CBST) was the sixth holding in terms of value in Farallon Capital’s latest 13F filing. Cubist represented a new position with Farallon owning 2.57 million shares, worth $258.17 million. Cubist Pharmaceuticals was recently delisted as it was purchased by Merck.

Disclosure: None