Billionaire Barry Rosenstein’s JANA Partners has disclosed its equity holdings as of March 31 in a 13F filing with the SEC. There was a good deal of activity in Rosenstein’s portfolio during the quarter as he opened 29 new positions including a number of large holdings in various index funds consisting of put options underlying shares. The heavy buying activity helped bolster the value of his fund’s portfolio to $17.23 billion, a greater than 50% increase from the previous reporting period. In terms of his long positions there were also a number of prominent moves, including several new positions and the sell-off of Rosenstein’s entire stake in PetSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PETM), which he had begun selling early in the first quarter.
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Rosenstein’s new top long position is in QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), in which his fund now holds a position of 28.54 million shares with a value of $1.98 billion. While much of that position was purchased during the first quarter, the increased holding is not a new revelation as JANA Partners had announced its new activist campaign and increased holding in the chipmaker back in April. At that time JANA began laying out some of its objectives for the company, which included an increased share buyback program and the possible sale of its chipset and licensing businesses. While the market reacted tepidly to JANA’s campaign and some analysts remarked that it was not in the company’s best interests to worry about share buybacks at this time amid slowing growth, QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) appears to be listening to JANA, as it recently issued over $10 billion in debt to help fund share buybacks. QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares are down by 5% in 2015, and more than 11% over the past calendar year. Among other things, the semiconductor giant is facing an antitrust investigation in Europe, where it’s alleged that it offered incentives to customers in an effort to persuade them from switching to rival products. JANA holds the largest position in Qualcomm in our database, followed by Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management.
Rosenstein left his position in Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) alone during the first quarter, one of the few that remained unchanged. The holding still stands at 13.75 million shares, with the value of the position increasing to $1.16 billion after Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) returned 11.6% during the quarter. A favorite dividend aristocrat, Walgreens has not lowered its dividend payments since it first started making them in 1987, with its dividends sporting a current yield of 1.56%. The company’s stock made the jump to the NASDAQ from the NYSE at the end of 2014 following its completion of the full acquisition of Alliance Boots, in which it had previously held a 45% stake. The merged pharmacy giant is now setting its eyes on emerging markets as a key area of growth. Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global holds the largest investment in Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) among funds in our database, slightly larger than JANA’s.
Lastly we look at Rosenstein’s position in eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), which he increased by nearly 50% during the first quarter to an even 20.0 million shares. The holding is now valued at $1.15 billion and gives Rosenstein the largest position in the e-commerce company among the investors we track save for a certain Carl Icahn, who owns a $2.67 billion position. With eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) spinning off its PayPal payments division into a separate public company later this year, eBay is likely to transition into a long-term value stock for investors, given the slow growth of its primary business. There’s also the possibility that eBay could become a takeover target at its reduced market cap once it’s divested itself of PayPal. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) has been mentioned as a possible suitor in that regards as it seeks to expand outside of China, though such a deal could be fraught with geopolitical complications.
Disclosure: None
