Yesterday George Soros’s Soros Fund Management, filed its Form 13F Filing for the first quarter of 2014 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Over the three months ending on March 31st, the fund started 157 new stock positions, increased its stakes in more than 60 of its preexisting holdings, and sold out of 88 stocks. In this article, I will take a look at three of Mr. Soros’ bullish moves for Q1.
Soros’ focus on technology stocks continued through the first quarter, with tech stocks accounting for more than 31% of its portfolio’s value. One of his bets on tech is placed on Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM), a $1.67 billion market cap open, standards-based unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) solutions provider. Over the first fiscal quarter, Soros upped its stakes in the stock by 72%, and now owns 9.45 million shares, worth almost $130 million.
Following this increase in his position, Soros is the largest hedge fund shareholder at Polycom Inc (NASDAQ:PLCM), having surpassed Jeffrey Smith’s Starboard Value Lp, which now owns 2.25 million shares, down from 6.65 million in the previous quarter.
The second company in this list is RF Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:RFMD), another tech company, which is engaged in the design and manufacturing of high-performance radio frequency (RF) components and compound semiconductor technologies, with a market cap of $2.44 billion. Soros started a position in RF Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:RFMD) and holds 6.66 million shares, worth more than $50 million.
However, Soros’ bullishness does not look nearly as intense as Ken Griffin’s (Citadel Investment Group), who acquired more than 13 million shares of the company during the first quarter, more than doubling his holding. Mr. Griffin now owns 22.5 million shares of RF Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:RFMD), worth more than $175 million. In addition, as mentioned in a recent article, Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group also initiated a position in the stock (also worth about $50 million).
Finally, there’s Magnum Hunter Resources Corp (NYSE:MHR), a $1.25 billion market cap oil and gas exploration and production company in which Soros has more than $50 million invested. Over the first fiscal quarter, his fund increased its stakes by 150%, and now holds about 6.78 million shares. In addition to Soros, Robert Henry Lynch’s Aristeia Capital, the largest hedge fund shareholder at Magnum Hunter Resources Corp (NYSE:MHR), slightly increased its bets on the company, and now owns more than $100 million of Magnum Hunter Resources Corp (NYSE:MHR) stock.
Soros Fund Management is a New York based hedge fund founded by George Soros in 1969. Over four decades, it has averaged a 20% annual rate of return, which makes it one of the most profitable funds in the industry’s history. Soros manages an equity portfolio worth more than $10 billion. In addition to tech stocks, his portfolio is focused on services, basic materials and healthcare stocks.
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no position in any stocks mentioned.
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