David Cohen and Harold Levy are founders of Iridian Asset Management. Messrs. Cohen and Levy are special situation investors focusing on depressed companies that are going through significant changes. According to the latest 13F filing, Iridian Asset Management revealed an equity portfolio valued at $11.87 billion, with a total of 81 positions. Iridian Asset Management has a diversified portfolio, mainly invested in materials and technology sectors. As the filing stated, the hedge fund’s largest positions are represented by Sealed Air Corp. (NYSE:SEE), Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc (NYSE:VRX), Grace (W.R.) & Co. (NYSE:GRA) and Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL).
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In the next sections, we will analyze Iridian Asset Management’s biggest holdings as of the end of March. On the first spot is Sealed Air Corp. (NYSE:SEE), in which the fund holds 13.38 million shares, valued at $609.61 million. Recently, Sealed Air Corp. (NYSE:SEE) reported its financial results, for the first quarter of 2015. As company’s President and CEO Jerome A. Peribere said, “Our first quarter 2015 performance was a strong start to the year despite currency headwinds.” The company posted net sales of $1.75 billion, down from $1.83 billion a year earlier. The company posted an increase in diluted earnings per share by 39.4% on the year to $0.46. Aside from Iridian Asset Management, among Sealed Air Corp. (NYSE:SEE)’s shareholders is Jean-Marie Eveillard’s First Eagle Investment Management with 4.39 million shares as of the end of March.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc (NYSE:VRX) represents Iridian Asset Management’s second-largest position in terms of value. During the first quarter, Iridian’s stake in the pharmaceutical company was cut by 22% to 3.04 million shares valued at $604.51 million. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc (NYSE:VRX)’s latest financial results included revenue of $2.19 billion, an increase of 16.15% over the prior year, including $140 million negative influence of currency fluctuations. Moreover, its net income amounted to $74.5 million, equal to $0.21 per share. The pharmaceutical company is optimistic regarding its financial results for 2015, expecting an increase in revenue almost by 14% to $10.6 billion. Jeffrey Ubben’s ValueAct Capital held the largest stake in Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc (NYSE:VRX) as of the end of 2014, but a couple of months ago, Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square disclosed a new activist stake that contains 19.47 million shares.
In Grace (W.R.) & Co. (NYSE:GRA), Iridian Asset Management disclosed holding 5.76 million shares worth at $569.85 million, which represents 4.80% of the fund’s equity portfolio. In February, the Grace (W.R.) & Co. (NYSE:GRA) announced its plan to create by the first quarter of 2016, two new industry-leading publicly traded companies. The chemical specialty company believes that this separation will lead to improve strategic focus, simplify operating structures, become more efficient in capital allocation and create strong financial profiles. As stated in Grace Reports first quarter 2015 results, net income increase by 5.2% to $52.7 million and diluted EPS of $0.72 comparing the same period of 2014. John Griffin’s Blue Ridge Capital and Stephen Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital are also prominent investors with large positions in Grace (W.R.) & Co. (NYSE:GRA).
Finally, Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) represents the forth-biggest position of the fund in terms of value. Iridian Asset Management boosted its stake in the world’s largest global airlines by 40% to 10.8 million shares valued at $485.65 million. Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was titled by Fortune magazine as being one of the most admired companies and its services are offered to more than 170 million customers per year. For the first quarter, Detla’s net income surged to $746 million, or $0.91 per share, versus $213 million and $0.25 per share a year earlier. In the previous round of 13F filings, Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) was the most popular airline stock among the billionaires from our database. Other shareholders that hold large positions in Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) is PAR Capital Management, run by Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro and Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global.
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