Activist Investor Dan Loeb Stays Active in Third Quarter

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Dec 08, 2014
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Daniel Loebfounded Third Point LLC nearly 20 years ago and leads the firm’s research activities, portfolio and risk management. Since he founded Third Point, it has returned more than 25% annually to its investors.

When investing his own money, Loeb prefers to be an activist investor. He likes to look for situations in which a catalyst will unlock value.

Loeb added holdings in 10 companies to his portfolio – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA, Financial), eBay Inc (EBAY, Financial), Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (BBBY, Financial), Shire PLC (SHPG, Financial), Parker Hannifin Corp (PH, Financial), Energizer Holdings Inc (ENR, Financial), SunEdison Inc (SUNE, Financial), Crown Holdings Inc (CCK, Financial), Molson Coors Brewing Co (TAP, Financial) and Fleetcor Technologies, Inc. (FLT, Financial).

Loeb’s purchase of 7.2 million shares of Alibaba, an ecommerce company based in China, for an average price of $89.95 per share easily had the greatest impact on his portfolio of any other third-quarter transaction he made – 7.3%. Loeb was one of about two dozen gurus who invested in Alibaba after its historic IPO in September.

Loeb also acquired 4,500,000 shares of eBay, a California-based ecommerce company, for an average price of $52.85 per share. That purchase had a 2.9% impact on his portfolio.

Loeb added 3,000,000 shares of Bed Bath & Beyond, a New Jersey-based retailer that specializes in products for the bedroom and the bathroom, for an average price of $62.90 per share. His investment in Bed Bath & Beyond had a 2.3% impact on Loeb’s portfolio.

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Loeb also purchased 750,000 shares of Shire PLC, a biopharmaceutical company based in Ireland, for an average price of $248.11 per share. The acquisition had a 2.2% impact on his portfolio.

The other transactions had an impact of less than 2% on Loeb’s portfolio.

Loeb added to his stakes in eight companies in the third quarter – Amgen Inc (AMGN, Financial), EQT Corp (EQT), Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (ST), Actavis PLC (ACT), Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc (CCE), Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA (BUD), American Airlines Group Inc (AAL) and Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC).

He bought 875,000 shares of Amgen for an average price of $125.53 per share, nearly tripling his existing stake. The transaction had a 1.39% impact on his portfolio. Amgen is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California.

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Loeb paid an average price of $97.25 for 1,170,000 additional shares of EQT, a Pennsylvania-based producer of natural gas. The transaction had a 1.25% impact on Loeb’s portfolio.

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Loeb’s additions to his holdings in Sensata Technologies Holding and Actavis each had an impact of 1.04% on his portfolio.

He purchased 2,000,000 shares of Sensata Technolgies, a supplier of sensors and controls for markets and applications, for an average price of $47.46.

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Loeb also added 375,000 shares to his stake in Actavis, an Ireland-based pharmaceutical company. He paid an average price of $201.43 per share.

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The other additions to his existing stakes had an impact of less than 1% each on his portfolio.

Divestitures and reductions

Loeb sold all his holdings in 12 companies – American International Group Inc (AIG), T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS), Rackspace Hosting Inc (RAX), Hertz Global Holdings Inc (HTZ), Citrix Systems Inc (CTXS), FMC Corporation (FMC), Ashland Inc (ASH), Finisar Corp (FNSR), Walgreen Co (WAG), Memorial Resource Development Corp (MRD), JDS Uniphase Corp (CA) [JDSU] and Owens-Corning Inc (OC).

Loeb divested himself of his 6,000,000 shares of American International Group, a New York-based insurance corporation, for an average price of $54.69 per share. The sale had a -4% impact on his portfolio.

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He sold his stake in T-Mobile US Inc, a Bellevue, Washington-based wireless network operator, selling 8,000,000 shares for an average price of $30.73. The divestiture had an impact of -3.3% on his portfolio.

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The sale of 7,250,000 shares of Rackspace Hosting, a Texas-based Cloud computing company, for an average price of $33.2 had a -3% impact on Loeb’s portfolio.

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He also sold 5,750,000 shares of Hertz Global Holdings, a Florida-based company of which Hertz’s rental cars business is a subsidiary, for an average price of $28.48 per share. The transaction had a -2% impact on Loeb’s portfolio.

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The remaining divestitures had an impact of -1.5% or less on his portfolio.

Loeb reduced his stakes in 10 companies in the third quarter – Williams Companies Inc (WMB), Cheniere Energy Inc (LNG), Ally Financial Inc (ALLY), YPF Sociedad Anonima (YPF), FedEx Corp (FDX), CF Industries Holdings Inc (CF), Avago Technologies Ltd (AVGO), Enphase Energy Inc (ENPH), Constellation Brands Inc (STZ) and Masco Corp (MAS).

Loeb sold 1,500,000 shares of Williams Companies, a Tulsa-based energy company, for an average price of $57.49. The sale had an impact on his portfolio of -1.62%.

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He also sold 1,450,000 shares of Cheniere Energy, a Houston-based energy company, for an average price of $76.19. The deal had a -1.29% impact on his portfolio.

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