OZ Management Does Complete 180 On Halliburton Co (HAL), Makes Several Other Major Moves in Q4

OZ Management sold 4.5 million shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, reducing its holding to 5.2 million shares worth $355 million at the end of December. Despite the large sale of shares, Microsoft still remained the fund’s largest tech position. Jim Simons‘ Renaissance Technologies also sold off 3.7 million shares in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, reducing its holding to 2.36 million shares. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is doing extremely well in new IT growth areas such as cloud computing and its market capitalization has crossed the $500 billion mark. The stock currently trades near its all-time high of $64 and also gives a handsome dividend yield of 2.42%. The company reported fiscal year 2017 second quarter adjusted earnings of $0.83 per share on revenue of $26.07 billion. The results outperformed analyst estimates of $0.79 and $25.28 billion respectively. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) recently sold $17 billion in bonds, its second debt offering in six months. The company had about $25 billion in debt as of the end of 2016. Microsoft expects to use the funds from the latest sale for repayment of short-term debt and for acquisition purposes.

NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) was one of the biggest stock purchases of OZ Management during the final quarter of 2016, with the fund buying 2.54 million shares to increase its holding to 2.71 million shares worth $266 million. NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) is the largest European semiconductor company, with a dominant presence in the area of analog chips. The stock has been on a roll, climbing by 51% over the last year, after Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) agreed to pay $39 billion to buy the company. NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) is the largest maker of chips for the automobile industry, which made it a very attractive target. The automobile chip sector is set to see explosive growth in the coming years, with the further development of autonomous vehicle technology. D.E. Shaw & Co. bought 2.72 million shares of NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI) in Q4, increasing its holding to 2.77 million shares as of the end of December.

Lastly, OZ Management sold off its entire holding of Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) in Q4, which had consisted of 4.73 million shares at the end of September. The sale was a quick turnaround for the fund, which had opened the position just a quarter earlier. Furthermore, OZ Management also opened a position of put options underlying 4.57 million shares, worth $247 million, so it appears the fund’s bullish thesis quickly turned into a bearish one. Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) has seen its stock price double over the last year thanks to the recovery in crude oil prices. For the December quarter, Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) reported $4 billion in revenue and adjusted earnings per share of $0.04, beating analysts’ bottom-line estimate of a loss of $0.02 per share, while being in-line with estimates for revenue. The company is expected to do well under the new Trump administration, which will enact favorable policies for the development of the oil and gas sector in North America. The upstream exploration sector recently saw a major merger, with General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) announcing its intention to merge its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI) to create a $32 billion company. Robert Rodriguez and Steven Romick’s First Pacific Advisors also sold off its entire long position of 3.73 million shares in Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) during the fourth quarter.

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