OZ Management Slashes Fees, Looks for Big Things from ‘Warcraft’ Developer Activision Blizzard (ATVI)

Trouble In Healthcare Insurance Business

Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) was one of the stocks OZ Management reduced exposure to during the second quarter. At the end of June, the fund held approximately 2.32 million shares valued at $417 million. The hedge fund sentiment towards Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) was unchanged during the second quarter, as 64 of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported a stake in the company in their latest 13F filings, together holding roughly 22% of the company’s common stock. Tiger Cub Andreas Halvorsen also decided to cut his fund’s exposure to this stock. According to its latest 13F filing, Viking Global held 811,824 shares of Humana, down by 34% on the quarter. Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM)’s merger deal with Aetna Inc (NYSE:AET) is still on hold, as US regulators are fighting tooth and nail to stop the deal from happening. The U.S. Department of Justice filed an anti-trust suit on July 21, arguing the merger would lead to reduced competition and an increase in prices. Aetna retaliated by threatening to reduce its participation in Affordable Care Act (ACA) public exchanges by 70%. The trial is scheduled to start on December 5.

Bullish on Microsoft

During the second quarter, Och and his team have more than doubled their fund’s investment in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), taking it to 8.73 million shares worth $446 million according to its latest 13F filing. At the end of the second quarter, Microsoft was the sixth most popular stock among the hedge funds in our database, although the number of funds holding the stock fell to 131 from 144 registered at the end of March. A long-term investor in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Ken Fisher increased his fund’s stake even more during the quarter. At the end of June, Fisher Asset Management held 18.3 million shares, reportedly worth $962 million. After new CEO Satya Nadella managed to breath new life into the company, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has continued on its growth path, becoming one of the main players in the cloud business and maintaining a solid footing in the software business. Revenue from its cloud service Azure grew by 7% on the year, while the productivity and business software segment was up 5% year over year, boosted by a 54% growth in revenue from Office 365 products.

Warcraft Maker Is Red Hot

OZ Management’s new top dog is Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), the developer of ‘Warcraft’ and ‘Call of Duty’ series. According to its quarterly regulatory filing, the fund had its stake increased by 194% to 14.2 million shares valued at $562 million. In general, Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) has registered a major boost in popularity among the hedge funds we follow, with the number of long bets having increased to 68 at the end of June, from 52 a quarter earlier. Billionaire Ken Griffin made a bold bet on the stock, boosting his fund’s position by 627% to 5.62 million shares valued at $223 million. Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) has been on a roll lately, managing to surpass guidance estimates in the last two quarters. For the most recent quarter, the company posted $1.61 billion in revenue and adjusted earnings of $0.54 per share, ahead of analysts’ estimates of $1.46 billion in revenue and $0.42 in earnings per share. The results were driven by the addition of King Digital Entertainment, the creator of ‘Candy Crush Saga’, and the immense popularity of newly-released ‘Overwatch’ video game.

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